Scientists of Harvard and Imperial College have successfully solved the crucial puzzle after 20 years of research and their findings could lead to better treatments for HIV /AIDS. The crystal that they have grown enables them to see the structure of integrase, found in many HIV retroviruses. It took them around 40,000 attempts to come up with a crystal of sufficient high-quality to allow them to see the three-dimensional structure.

HIV virus uses the integrase enzyme to send its genetic information into its DNA. Sometimes most of the highly effective drugs turn out to be useless in cases where HIV gets resistant to an antiviral. Scientist say that getting the crystal means researchers would fully understand how integrase inhibitors work, how they might be improved and how to stop HIV developing resistance to them.

These studies and researches make one thing clear – we are not far from the day when we’ll have a complete cure of HIV disease. This crystal might be helpful in getting a complete cure to HIV disease, saving around 33.4 million people worldwide. What is your opinion regarding this study?

SH

Original Blog Link: http://blog.insidecytolin.com/?p=359