CCR5 Gene and HIV/AIDS
People carrying a mutation in the gene that codes for the CCR5 protein on the surface of white blood cells, key cells in the immune system, are better able to resist HIV infection. In old news from March 2005 that’s new to me, researchers hypothesized that exposure to repeated plague outbreaks in Europe during the Middle Ages may have favored survivors with the CCR5 gene mutation. (Biology News, March 11, 2005)
There is debate whether it was plague or smallpox which led to an increase in the number of Europeans who carry the CCR5 gene mutation - about 10% of modern-day Europeans have it. But the CCR5 protein encoded by the mutated gene seems to prevent HIV from entering white blood cells and causing havoc in the immune system.
And another thing I did not know (among many others), Microsoft Research is not only doing research in computer-related fields, they are also involved in using data-mining techniques to develop a vaccine against HIV. Examining data on both HIV RNA sequences and HIV patients’ genomes, they are attempting to identify patterns in viral evolution, which they hope will lead to a plan of attack on HIV. (MSDN Magazine, September 2005)
For more news and information on HIV/AIDS, check out AIDS Combat Zone.
*Pointer to Journal of Medical Genetics paper from The Atlantic, June 2005 (subscription only)
*Pointer to MSDN Magazine from snowdeal.org
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POSTED IN: General Genetics and Health
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3 opinions for CCR5 Gene and HIV/AIDS
» HIV Gene Therapy Genetics and Health
Dec 29, 2005 at 7:03 pm
[…] Sangamo BioSciences Inc. has developed a technology that disrupts the CCR5 gene - the gateway for the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) to enter immune system T-cells. They plan to begin a human clinical trials of its therapy in HIV patients in 2006. Sangamo’s therapy would draw tens of millions of T-cells from a patient, disrupt the CCR5 gene in them, amplify the cells so there are about 1 billion of them and reinfuse them into the patient. Doing so would provide a reservoir of healthy and uninfectable T-cells that would fight both opportunistic infections and HIV itself. Once altered, those cells’ CCR5 genes are permanently modified. […]
henry
Mar 9, 2006 at 5:51 am
youare not terribally useful. thanks all the same.
Hsien Hsien Lei, PhD
Mar 9, 2006 at 7:09 am
henry: Sorry I disappointed you. Was there something specific you were looking for?
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