* Blogmanac | Irish doctor finds AIDS strain
A researcher at NUI in Maynooth, Ireland, has discovered a new strain of the AIDS virus which could have major implications in the search for a cure. Dr Grace McCormack, at the university's department of biology, made the discovery during research into the molecular evolution of HIV about three weeks ago.
Her discovery was made in blood samples from a region in Malawi, in central Africa. She had been working on the research for the past three years.
Dr McCormack submitted her findings to the official journal of the International Retrovirology Association, AIDS Research and Human Retroviruses. The findings are published in the May 2003 edition of the journal.
Significantly, the discovery was made in blood samples from the 1980s, implying the strain is one that did not survive. "We have found it in samples from the 1980s but have not seen it in any from the 1990s," she said. "It might be a strain of the virus that failed. Because of that it may give us information on how to defeat the virus. If it has failed, why has it failed?"
Dr McCormack said her discovery suggested the AIDS virus was a lot more complex than had been thought.
Her work also involves her monitoring viral changes in HIV positive people surviving over long periods, though without access to drugs or treatment. She has found "exciting changes" in the virus in such people living for 10 years and more. "Either the virus is defective in some way in these people or they are finding ways to fight it. Perhaps we can find ways to replicate that in other systems," she said.
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A researcher at NUI in Maynooth, Ireland, has discovered a new strain of the AIDS virus which could have major implications in the search for a cure. Dr Grace McCormack, at the university's department of biology, made the discovery during research into the molecular evolution of HIV about three weeks ago.
Her discovery was made in blood samples from a region in Malawi, in central Africa. She had been working on the research for the past three years.
Dr McCormack submitted her findings to the official journal of the International Retrovirology Association, AIDS Research and Human Retroviruses. The findings are published in the May 2003 edition of the journal.
Significantly, the discovery was made in blood samples from the 1980s, implying the strain is one that did not survive. "We have found it in samples from the 1980s but have not seen it in any from the 1990s," she said. "It might be a strain of the virus that failed. Because of that it may give us information on how to defeat the virus. If it has failed, why has it failed?"
Dr McCormack said her discovery suggested the AIDS virus was a lot more complex than had been thought.
Her work also involves her monitoring viral changes in HIV positive people surviving over long periods, though without access to drugs or treatment. She has found "exciting changes" in the virus in such people living for 10 years and more. "Either the virus is defective in some way in these people or they are finding ways to fight it. Perhaps we can find ways to replicate that in other systems," she said.
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