• Question: why AIDS has no cure up to now

    Asked by 635green25 to Mary, George on 28 May 2019.
    • Photo: George Makau

      George Makau answered on 28 May 2019:


      Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 (HIV-1), the causative agent of AIDS has an extremely fast rate of evolution. Most vaccines that act as a cure are usually targeted to a specific protein at the surface of a pathogen. The fast rate of evolution by HIV-1 means that it changes its surface proteins at such a rapid speed that it is difficult to formulate one vaccine that can be used as a cure. 10 billion viruses are produced per day! The virus hides in white blood cells, these are the cells that help you fight infections. Any cure against the virus will have to selectively kill the white blood cells that are infected without killing uninfected cells. This is a massive scientific challenge!

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