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German Scientists Find New Substance to Hold Back Human HIV Reproduction

Posted on: Wednesday, 27 July 2005, 09:00 CDT

German scientists find new substance to hold back human HIV reproduction

BERLIN, July 26 (Xinhua) -- Scientists from Germany's Heidelberg University Hospital announced Tuesday they had found a new substance to hold back the reproduction of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). They said a fragment of protein had been successfully used in the laboratory to stop the forming of the virus shell without which the virus cannot reproduce.

The new discovery, published on the science journal Nature Structural and Molecular Biology on Tuesday, might one day allow scientists to find a way to beat the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) by revealing a new vulnerability in the HIV virus that causes the epidemic.

The achievement, made by the team led by Hans-Georg Kraeusslich, a virology professor at the hospital, could be good news to around 40 million people world wide who are infected with HIV.

However, they said the protein fragment only functioned in a test- tube, and cannot be used directly as a drug as infected cells do not accept it.

The hospital gave no details as how long it takes to find out more viable substances with a similar function.

Source: Xinhua News Agency - CEIS

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