Reuters: Ancient HIV stowaway may hold clue to transmission

[rasputin1952]

Their finding, which has implications for designing new drugs or a vaccine against the fatal and incurable virus, may also shed light on how other viruses, such as swine flu, spread from animals to people, experts said.

And it also may help explain how an ancient virus came to cause the devastating 25-year-long pandemic of AIDS.

<snip>

Studying this genetic sequence more may help scientists understand how viruses jump from animals to humans, added Matthew Portnoy of the National Institute of General medical Sciences, one of the National Institutes of Health.

<snip>

HIV now infects an estimated 33.4 million people, according to the United Nations, and has killed 25 million. H1N1 swine flu is still spreading globally and has infected tens of millions.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE5B51KK20091207?feedType=RSS&feedName=scienceNews&rpc=76





Every step brings us closer to a cure.

[trotsky]

1. Huge development!

Pity we've lost so many lives to it, but we're at last unraveling HIV's deepest secrets. Hopefully that cure is not far off.