Possible Cure To HIV

Summary-

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:HIV-infected_H9_T_cell.jpg

This article is about discovering a new protein that has the possibility of blocking the HIV virus. Researchers at UCLA intially found that 25HC inhibited HIV in cell structures dramatically. The oxysterol called 25-hydroxycholesterol (25HC) is able to permeate a cell's wall and block a virus from entering. The team administered 25HC to mice that were implanted with human tissues and found that it significantly reduced the HIV amounts within the next seven days. It was also found that the 25HC reversed the T-cell depletion caused by HIV. The oxysterol 25HC is not only found to inhibit HIV from entering a cell, but it is also found to stop the growth of other deadly viruses, such as Ebola, Nipah and the Rift Valley Fever virus. HIV has cause so many deaths in the world that it is hard to imagine a world free of it. So I now ask you, what would the world be like without HIV and these other deadly viruses?

NOS Themes:

• Science is collaborative- A team of UCLA researchers conducted this experiment.
• Science is based on evidence- The researchers collected lots of data during this experiment.
• Science is subject to debate and tenative- This is the beginning of research for this team and "the researchers still need to compare 25HC's antiviral effect against other HIV antivirals."

Link to the Article: Newly Identified Natural Protein Blocks HIV, Other Deadly Viruses