Protein in monkeys may block HIV

[hedgetrimmer]

Finding may lead to treatment to prevent infection in people
Oregon Health and Science University / AP
Scientists say they've discovered how some monkeys, similar to these rhesus macaques at the Oregon National Primate Research Center, resist infection with HIV.


~SNIP~
The Associated Press
Updated: 4:11 p.m. ET Feb. 25, 2004Scientists say they’ve discovered how some monkeys resist infection with the AIDS virus, a finding that might lead to a treatment that blocks HIV in people.

Researchers found that once HIV enters monkey cells, it encounters a protein that stifles its attempts to replicate. That stops the virus from spreading in the animal.

“This is really important because it will help build a basis for hammering the virus before it gets started,” said Paul Luciw, a University of California at Davis microbiologist who specializes in AIDS research.

The protein, called TRIM5-alpha, was identified in rhesus macaques by a team of Harvard researchers at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. It’s not clear exactly how the protein acts against HIV, said Dr. Joseph Sodroski, who led the Harvard study published Thursday in the journal Nature.

... more ...
link: http://msnbc.msn.com/id/4370521/

[abracadabra]

1. torturing monkeys is cool!! they're so cute

all in the name of science--ha--welcome to hell--
Torture for the greater good.

[Jim Sagle]

2. It's them or us.

[abracadabra]

3. I like them better