Investor Updates
Australian scientists hail ‘potential cure for AIDS’
23 January 2013
Australian scientists at the Queensland Institute for Medical Research have reported a discovery that could lead to a potential cure for AIDS.
The scientists have worked out how to modify a protein in the HIV virus so that it protects against the infection instead of replicating it.
This research has just been published in the Human Gene Therapy.
David Harrich, Associate Professor at the Institute’s Molecular Virology Laboratory, said that while the modified protein cannot cure HIV it has been shown to protect human cells from AIDS in the laboratory.
“This therapy is potentially a cure for AIDS,’ Associate Professor Harrich said.
He added that animal trials on this ground-breaking work are due to start this year and that the early indications are positive.
A not-for-profit-organisation, the Queensland Institute for Medical Research was established 45 years ago and is today one of Australia’s largest and most successful medical research institutes. It currently has 50 laboratories, six Research Departments and three Research Programs.
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