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La Jolla, Calif. -
Researchers and Scientists at the Scripps Research Institute are one step closer to finding a vaccine for the AIDs virus.
Scientists are meeting Thursday to discuss the new findings during a symposium as well as opening a ground breaking facility to house new HIV and AIDs research. The new center will allow scientists from all over the globe to be working in a single lab and collaborate towards a single goal.
Scripps researchers said they recently discovered two antibodies that are proving to be more resistant to HIV.
"We're really excited about this, and we think that this is probably a very promising new target for vaccine design," Scripps researcher Lauren Walker said.
Walker said this is not a cure for AIDS, but it is a step towards preventing the spread of HIV, the virus that causes the disease.
The discovery comes just as the results were announced of a large vaccine trial conducted in Thailand. More than 16,000 people participated in the study. The research showed that the vaccine cut participants risk of HIV infection by more than 30 percent.
Project directors of the International Aids Vaccine Initiative working in San Diego said the Thailand study is significant for their studies here in the United States.
"The first point it makes clear is that it's a solvable problem," Project Director Steven Fling, Ph.D., said. "The second point is that the efforts that we have here at the new center will hopefully enhance the effect that has been seen in the vaccines that were tested in the Thai trail."
Scientists don't have an estimate of how long it might take for the actual vaccine will become available to patients in this country, but they said the new findings give them hope that it will be available sooner rather than later.
Scientists are meeting Thursday to discuss the new findings during a symposium as well as opening a ground breaking facility to house new HIV and AIDs research. The new center will allow scientists from all over the globe to be working in a single lab and collaborate towards a single goal.
Scripps researchers said they recently discovered two antibodies that are proving to be more resistant to HIV.
"We're really excited about this, and we think that this is probably a very promising new target for vaccine design," Scripps researcher Lauren Walker said.
Walker said this is not a cure for AIDS, but it is a step towards preventing the spread of HIV, the virus that causes the disease.
The discovery comes just as the results were announced of a large vaccine trial conducted in Thailand. More than 16,000 people participated in the study. The research showed that the vaccine cut participants risk of HIV infection by more than 30 percent.
Project directors of the International Aids Vaccine Initiative working in San Diego said the Thailand study is significant for their studies here in the United States.
"The first point it makes clear is that it's a solvable problem," Project Director Steven Fling, Ph.D., said. "The second point is that the efforts that we have here at the new center will hopefully enhance the effect that has been seen in the vaccines that were tested in the Thai trail."
Scientists don't have an estimate of how long it might take for the actual vaccine will become available to patients in this country, but they said the new findings give them hope that it will be available sooner rather than later.
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