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Apr. 20th, 2005 02:06 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
theweaselkingA harmless bacterium that binds to the HIV virus has been discovered by medical researchers. The find may lead to a cheap way to control infection.
Lin Tao, a researcher at the University of Illinois at Chicago's dentistry college, has found a strain of lactobacillus -- a common bacteria in our bodies -- that binds to the sugar envelope on the surface of HIV. The bacterium targets HIV because it uses the sugar as a food source.
Tao and colleagues at Chicago's Rush University isolated the lactobacilli from the oral and vaginal cavities of healthy human volunteers. The team then tested the bacteria against HIV and found two strains that specifically trap the virus by eating mannose and -- in the lab at least -- block infection.
"If we can find its natural enemy, we can control the spread of HIV naturally and cost-effectively, just as we use cats to control mice," Tao said.
Lin Tao, a researcher at the University of Illinois at Chicago's dentistry college, has found a strain of lactobacillus -- a common bacteria in our bodies -- that binds to the sugar envelope on the surface of HIV. The bacterium targets HIV because it uses the sugar as a food source.
Tao and colleagues at Chicago's Rush University isolated the lactobacilli from the oral and vaginal cavities of healthy human volunteers. The team then tested the bacteria against HIV and found two strains that specifically trap the virus by eating mannose and -- in the lab at least -- block infection.
"If we can find its natural enemy, we can control the spread of HIV naturally and cost-effectively, just as we use cats to control mice," Tao said.