HIV researchers edge closer to a cureOctober 3, 2016 - 12:19 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Most recent news on the fight against HIV has focused on preventative medicine and suppression, but British scientists might be inching toward an honest-to-goodness cure, Engadget said. A 44-year-old social worker in London appears to be completely free of the virus after undergoing an experimental "kick and kill" treatment as part of a trial. The patient first took a vaccine to help his immune system detect infected cells, and then took Vorinostat to activate dormant infected cells that normally don't get caught. After that, it was just a matter of letting the healthy parts of the immune system kill off all the HIV, theoretically eliminating any chance of the virus coming back. The researchers are quick to stress that there's a long, long way to go before they're shouting about this therapy from the rooftops. The social worker is just the first of 50 to finish the trial, and he'll have to wait months to confirm that HIV is no longer in his system. There's also a chance that the patient's doses of conventional medicine are contributing to the seemingly clean bill of health. And even if everything is fine after this first experiment, the tests will carry on for another 5 years. Still, the findings are promising. A drug cocktail like this is relatively straightforward compared to more elaborate attempts to kill or neuter HIV, such as gene editing. If it clears all the necessary hurdles (and HIV doesn't evolve to resist the medicine), the virus won't pose nearly as much of a threat as it has in decades past, AceShowbiz said. Top stories Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". The earthquake caused a temporary blackout, damaged many buildings and closed a number of rural roads. Partner news | Narek Manasyan wins European Boxing Championships silver for Armenia Armenia’s Narek Manasyan (92kg) won Armenia’s second silver medal at the European Boxing Championships 2024 on April 28. Blinken urges Azerbaijan to continue negotiations with Armenia Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken has urged Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev to continue negotiations with Armenia. Pashinyan, Blinken talk Armenia-U.S. ties over the phone Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan had a phone conversation with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on April 28, Pashinyan’s office reports. Titus, Bilirakis lead legislation to sanction Azerbaijani war criminals Representatives Dina Titus (D-NV) and Gus Bilirakis (R-FL) have introduced the bipartisan legislation. |