Researchers come closer to HIV/AIDS vaccine

In the on-going battle against HIV/AIDS, vaccine developers are continually trying to find ways to promote immunity from this devastating virus. Fortunately, researchers at The Scripps Research Institute and the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative have developed a new vaccine-design approach. The research team — which published its report in the March 28 edition of Science Express — engineered an artificial immunogen, or substance that induces immunity, to elicit an antibody response that could be effective against several strains of HIV. HIV/AIDS According to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the precursor to acquired immune deficiency syndrome, or AIDS, harms an individual by destroying CD4 positive T-cells, which are essential to protecting the body from disease. HIV infects more than 50,000 individuals in the U.S. annually, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and, cumulatively, UNAIDS estimates that there are approximately 34 million people worldwide living with...