Date: March 15, 2017
Source: CNRS (DÃ©lÃ©gation Paris Michel-Ange)
Summary: A protein marker has been discovered that allows cells carrying dormant HIV viruses to be distinguished from healthy cells. This will allow the isolation, and hopefully the destruction of such HIV reservoir cells in order to make remission possible.
Connection: We have recently been discussing the reproductive cycles of viruses and how some varieties have the ability to go dormant for periods of time and remain undetected by the host.The dormant viruses inside of reservoir cells may reemerge at any given time.In the case of HIV, the ability of the virus to do so is the reason why patients must receive treatments for the rest of their lives in order to suppress the virus.
Analysis: This article is relatively short, but informative. The writing is easy to follow in layperson terms, but still conveys the discovery effectively. The journal is cited at the bottom of the page, so if one wanted to read the entire discovery in scientific terms, they would be able to. It appears to be scientifically sound, and considering it was published in Nature, that is another mark of its credibility. The fact that something like this has been discovered poses great possibilities in eventually curing HIV, and it was exciting to see this when I was looking up articles.
However, they did have a very small study group, and I hope to see this expanded upon in future studies. Only 12 HIV-positive individuals were checked for the marking protein, and while it was found in all the individuals, I think that for good science it should have more verified successes before considering it a solidly proven fact.
Question: How long has this research been in progress? It states that the idea of identifying reservoir proteins has been around since 1996, so has this research been in progress for the last 21 years?