ANDIE NOONAN
TheNationalAssociationofPeoplewithHIV(NAPWA)
hascautiouslywelcomednewsMelbourneresearchers
have made a scientific breakthrough which could
unlock the cure to HIV.
Scientists at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute in
Parkville announced last...
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ANDIE NOONAN
TheNationalAssociationofPeoplewithHIV(NAPWA)
hascautiouslywelcomednewsMelbourneresearchers
have made a scientific breakthrough which could
unlock the cure to HIV.
Scientists at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute in
Parkville announced last week they had successfully
cleared a HIV-like infection from mice by boosting the
animals’immuneresponseswithasynthetichormone
called interleukin-7 (IL-7).
The finding was published in medical journal Cell.
Lead researcher Dr Marc Pelligrini told the Star
Observer although a HIV cure might still be more than
10 years away, the finding has great weight.
“I think this is the first real ray of light that gives us
hope that [HIV] is curable,” Pelligrini said.
“We’ve shown for the first time that [IL-7] actually
does clear a very chronic and overwhelming infection
in mice, which we think is translatable to HIV, hep B,
hep C and perhaps other infections.
”
Pelligrini said the breakthrough finding relates to
the use of the body’s immune s
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