Key HIV-combating genes identified:
[Health India]: Washington, Dec 10 : HIV infection might soon be curtailed as scientists have reportedly suceeded in identifying key genes that help the body to fend off deadly viruses.
The study, a joint project by the Universities of Oxford, KwaZulu-Natal and Harvard and published in Nature, provides a greater understanding of how some people can survive symptom free for years, while others rapidly develop AIDS.
The researchers collected data from HIV-positive women attending antenatal clinics in Durban, South Africa and found that type B molecules do the best job of identifying HIV infected cells for termination, and consequently the speed of progression in the infection seemed to be strongly linked to which version of the B molecule gene each woman carried.