Gene Therapy Prevents AIDS in Mice

Altering DNA could be successful where traditional vaccines have failed.

A gene therapy "vaccine" against HIV/AIDS has so far proven to be 100-per-cent successful in preventing mice from contracting the deadly virus. Using traditional vaccines made up of inactive viruses has so far proven to be ineffective in battling HIV/AIDS, so researchers at Cal Tech are using DNA injections in mice to make them AIDS-resistant. Via Lauren Gravitz of Nature:

David Baltimore, a virologist and HIV researcher at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, and his colleagues used a genetically altered adenovirus to infect muscle cells and deliver DNA that codes for antibodies isolated from the blood of people infected with HIV. The DNA is incorporated into the muscle cells’ genome and programs the cells to manufacture the antibody, which is then secreted into the bloodstream.

The method proved to be completely successful in lab mice, and the antibodies were still being created in the mice a year after the injections, suggesting that a single shot might be all that's needed to prevent an HIV infection. But as with all experiments on lab animals, that doesn't mean it will necessarily work for humans. But on the 30th installment of World AIDS Day, it's another step toward eradicating a virus that's already claimed some 30 million lives.