Read the article: AIDS Strain Fights AIDS

This is realy cool. The title of the article is just a tad misleading though. What was done was ‘they’ took a bunch of AIDS cells, removed half of the innards (be awed by my techno-speak), then took what was left inside the cell and reversed its genes.

This is called antisense:

Antisense therapy is a form of treatment for genetic disorders or infections. When the genetic sequence of a particular gene is known to be causative of a particular disease, it is possible to synthesize a strand of nucleic acid (DNA, RNA or a chemical analogue) that will bind to the messenger RNA (mRNA) produced by that gene and inactivate it, effectively turning that gene “off”. - Antisence Therapy, Wikipedia

A three year study at the University of Pennsylvania just ended. During the study, 5 AIDS patients, who had become drug resistant, were treated with this antisense therapy. At the conclusion of the study, the immune systems of four of the five subjects was stronger, with the virus showing signs of partial suppression.

This isn’t the first time that gene therapy has been used for AIDS patients. The article points out that some have been cured of AIDS… while others developed cancer from the treatments. Because of this inconsistency, one of the goals of this study was to show that the antisense strain would not be harmful to patients.

The study has moved into Phase II at this point: working with subjects for whom drugs continue to be beneficial.

I think it goes without saying that this is some seriously great work, and I really hope that they are successful. I had always been convinced that the best we could ever hope for was a vaccine to prevent infection, but that, like with most viral infections that mutate too quickly, once you contracted the virus there was nothing you could do about it. The researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have really turned on a light in an otherwise dark room for the world. For the first time… ever, really… I feel as though there IS hope for some kind of cure.

I urge those of you who do so, to pray for their continued wisdom, intellect, and success in this research. In the words of a great TV show, “The Truth is Out There.” And i pray they find it sooner, rather than later.