Science & Technology
This week, scientists at Scripps Research moved closer to attaining that holy grail of HIV research with a new vaccine approach that would rely on genetically engineered immune cells from the patient's body.
In experiments involving mice, the approach successfully induced broadly neutralizing antibodies — also called bnabs — that can prevent HIV infection, says principal investigator James Voss, PhD, of Scripps Research. The study appears in Nature Communications.
Voss and his team showed in 2019 that it was possible to reprogram the antibody genes of the immune system's B cells using CRISPR so the cells would produce the same broadly neutralizing HIV antibodies that have been found in rare HIV patients.
The new study shows that such engineered B cells, after being reintroduced to the body, can multiply in response to a vaccination — and mature into memory cells and plasma cells that produce high levels of protective antibodies for long periods of time in the body. The team also demonstrated that the engineered genes can be improved to make antibodies that are even more effective against the virus, using a process that normally occurs in B cells that are responding to immunization.
"This is the first time it has been shown that modified B cells can create a durable engineered antibody response in a relevant animal model," Voss explains.
He hopes that his vaccine approach may someday prevent new HIV infections and possibly offer a functional cure to those who already have HIV/AIDS. The virus is still prevalent throughout the world, with an estimated 38 million people with the disease in 2019.
Voss notes that in humans, the starting cells to create the vaccine could be obtained easily from a simple blood draw, then engineered in the lab before being reintroduced to the patient. He and his team — including first author Deli Huang, PhD, Jenny Tran, PhD, Alex Olson, PhD, and graduate student Mary Tenuta — are now exploring ways to improve the technology so that it would be accessible to the greatest number of people. Because the approach relies on delivering genes to a patient's own immune cells, this could be a significant challenge.
"People think of cell therapies as being very expensive," Voss says. "We're doing a lot of work towards trying to make the technology affordable as a preventative HIV vaccine or functional cure that would replace daily antiviral therapy."
Reference: Huang D, Tran JT, Olson A, et al. Vaccine elicitation of HIV broadly neutralizing antibodies from engineered B cells. Nature Communications. 2020;11(1):5850. doi:10.1038/s41467-020-19650-8.
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Reader Comments
It is nearly 30 years since Dr Peter Duesberg proved that HIV does not cause AIDS and we are still wasting funding on this.Exactly!! HIV does NOT cause AIDS!! I'm so sick of the HIV fear porn BS
Dr Robert Willner Injects "HIV" into himself on TV
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In 1993, Dr. Willner stunned Spain by inoculating himself with the blood of Pedro Tocino, an HIV positive hemophiliac. This demonstration of devotion to the truth and the Hippocratic Oath he took, nearly 40 years before, was reported on the front page of every major newspaper in Spain. His appearance on Spain's most popular television show envoked a 4 to 1 response by the viewing audience in favor of his position against the "AIDS hypothesis." When asked why he would put his life on the line to make a point, Dr. Willner replied: "I do this to put a stop to the greatest murderous fraud in medical history. By injecting myself with HIV positive blood, I am proving the point as Dr. Walter Reed did to prove the truth about yellow fever. In this way it is my hope to expose the truth about HIV in the interest of all mankind."
He tested negative multiple times. He died of a Heart attack 4 months later 15th April 1995 (and I'm sure TPTB gave him that heart attack--there's no way they were going to let him live and prove that they were LYING!!)
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AmandaMay I was fortunate to be present at a lengthy presentation by Dr Duesberg in the early 90s. Our whole natural healing has been hijacked by allopathic medicine; now they are planning to kill us with their poisons at great profit.Wow, good for you on getting to see a presentation by Dr. Deusberg--a true hero in trying to stand up to the corrupt pharma-controlled medical establishment.
I didn't wake up to the HIV/AIDS scam until after I woke up to 9/11 and everything else (probably started waking up in 2006).
I actually have a family member who was severely damaged by the medical establishment and big-pharma. They have already stolen years of our lives and now they are coming to finish us off and force these experimental DNA-altering mRNA vaccines on us.
Unbelievable that this is what America has become.
Comment: In using CRISPR towards the described HIV vaccine it would seem that these scientists are quite simply playing with fire. But what else is new?
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