Retrovirus News and Research

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Researchers find new retrovirus 'fossil' in vampire bats

Scientists discovered a new retrovirus "fossil" found in the common vampire bat which is homologous to retroviruses in rodents and primates. The results suggest the recent circulation of an active infectious retrovirus and cross-species transmission.

4 Mar 2015

Betaretrovirus may infect patients with primary biliary cirrhosis

In a new study published in Alimentary Pharmacology & Therapeutics, researchers at the University of Alberta's Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry have shown that a betaretrovirus which resembles a mouse mammary tumor virus infects patients with the rare liver disease, primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC).

20 Feb 2015

Two researchers receive Pioneer Award from Human Gene Therapy

Recognized for their pioneering work in the development of gene transfer technology using retroviral vectors to deliver therapeutic genes into cells, Richard C. Mulligan, PhD, Director of the Harvard Gene Therapy Initiative, Harvard Institutes of Medicine, Boston, MA, and A. Dusty Miller, PhD, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA, received the Pioneer Award from Human Gene Therapy, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers.

9 Feb 2015

Protein Sciences earns Frost & Sullivan 2013 Global New Product Innovation Award

Based on its recent analysis of the influenza vaccines market, Frost & Sullivan recognises Protein Sciences with the 2013 Global New Product Innovation Award. Flublok is the world's first recombinant protein vaccine for the prevention of seasonal influenza disease to gain U.S. FDA approval.

29 Dec 2014

Endogenous retroviruses play critical role in body's immune defense against bacterial, viral pathogens

Retroviruses are best known for causing contagious scourges such as AIDS, or more sporadically, cancer.

23 Dec 2014

Endogenous retroviruses also play critical role in the body's immune defense against pathogens

Retroviruses are best known for causing contagious scourges such as AIDS, or more sporadically, cancer.

19 Dec 2014

New study eliminates hepatitis C virus as causative factor of mental impairment in HIV patients

Advances in treatment for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) have made it possible for people with HIV to survive much longer. As they age, however, many experience impaired thinking, memory loss, mood swings and other evidence of impaired mental function.

14 Dec 2014

MSD announces Phase 2b results of doravirine therapy in untreated patients with HIV-1 infection

Merck Sharp & Dohme Ltd. MSD (known as Merck & Co., Inc. in the United States and Canada), today announced the presentation of results from a Phase 2b clinical trial evaluating the safety and efficacy of once daily oral doravirine, an investigational next-generation non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI), plus tenofovir/emtricitabine (TDF/FTC) compared to efavirenz plus TDF/FTC in previously untreated patients with HIV-1 infection.

4 Nov 2014

'Mentor Mothers' program improves perinatal health outcomes in South Africa

The incidence of HIV infection in South Africa tops that of any nation in the world, with some 6 million of the country's nearly 50 million residents infected. Sadly, young women — and particularly young pregnant women — suffer some of the highest rates of HIV infection. More than one-fourth of pregnant South African women are infected with the virus; in some communities, the infection rates are even higher.

30 Oct 2014

Researchers use computer based predictions to combat AIDS

The battle against AIDS cannot be won in the laboratory alone. To fight the potentially deadly virus that 34 million people are suffering from we need help from computers.

8 Oct 2014

Case Western Reserve scientists discover leaky gut as source of non-AIDS complications

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection is no longer a fatal condition, thanks to newer medications inhibiting the retrovirus, but a puzzling phenomenon has surfaced among these patients — non-AIDS complications. Scientists at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine have resolved the mystery with their discovery of the leaky gut as the offender.

4 Sep 2014

Findings may help develop biomarkers to identify HIV patients at risk of dementia

Since the introduction of the combination anti-retroviral therapy (cART) in the mid-90s, the life expectancy of HIV patients has significantly improved. As a result, long-term complications are becoming more relevant: almost every second HIV patient is affected by neurocognitive disorders, which can lead to dementia.

4 Sep 2014

Study provides insights into interplay among bacteria, viruses and immune system during HIV infection

A new study led by the Translational Genomics Research Institute provides insights into the interplay among bacteria, viruses and the immune system during HIV infection.

25 Jul 2014

Lancet report: Support sex workers to prevent HIV

Across the world, in high- and low-income countries, women, men, and transgender people who sell sex are subjected to repressive and discriminatory law, policy, and practice, which in turn fuel human rights violations against them, including violence and discrimination. All of these factors are preventing sex workers from accessing the services which they need in order to effectively prevent and treat HIV infection, according to a major new Series on HIV and sex workers, published in The Lancet.

23 Jul 2014

Combination drug therapy cures chronic hepatitis C in co-infected HIV patients

A multicenter team of researchers report that in a phase III clinical trial, a combination drug therapy cures chronic hepatitis C in the majority of patients co-infected with both HIV and hepatitis C.

21 Jul 2014

Researchers find viable immunotherapy option for HIV-1 using fossil virus

The road to finding a cure for HIV-1 is not without obstacles. However, thanks to cutting-edge research by Douglas Nixon, M.D., Ph.D., and colleagues, performed at the George Washington University (GW), Oregon Health & Science University, the University of Rochester, and UC San Francisco, the scientific community is one step closer to finding a viable immunotherapy option for HIV-1, using an immune attack against a fossil virus buried in the genome.

18 Jul 2014

Study reveals mechanism underlying abnormal fat accumulation in HIV patients

Building upon their earlier research on the biology of fat metabolism, Joslin scientists discovered that microRNAs -small RNA molecules that play important roles in regulation in many types of tissue - play a major role in the distribution and determination of fat cells and whole body metabolism.

3 Jul 2014

Frederic Bushman gets Pioneer Award from Human Gene Therapy

Frederic D. Bushman, PhD's (University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine) early pioneering work in understanding how HIV reproduces by inserting its genetic material into the DNA of a host cell led to key advances in the ability to move pieces of DNA and whole genes between cells.

25 Jun 2014

HCV reactivation may not worsen survival outcomes for lymphoma patients with HIV

More than a quarter of HIV+ patients are also infected with the Hepatitis C virus (HCV), which may complicate treatment and care decisions after a cancer diagnosis. The specifics of those complications haven't been well-researched in the past. Results from a new Fox Chase Cancer Center study on this patient population may start filling in that gap.

31 May 2014

CIRM grants $5.6 million to develop HIV/AIDS therapeutic using Sangamo's ZFN genome-editing technology

Sangamo BioSciences, Inc. announced that the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) has granted a $5.6 million Strategic Partnership Award to fund clinical studies at City of Hope to develop a potentially curative ZFP Therapeutic for HIV/AIDS based on the application of Sangamo's zinc finger nuclease (ZFN) genome-editing technology in hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells (HSPCs).