The HIV virus: Back to the beginning

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The HIV virus: Back to the beginning

Anuradha Mascarenhas

pune Posted: Sun Jul 04 2010, 23:41 hrs

At the National AIDS Research Institute (NARI) in Pune, scientists are focusing

on basic science to understand the HIV virus better.

Research is underway for a while now to understand at the molecular level the

entry mechanism of the HIV virus—in India in particular the circulating

HIV-1clade C strains.

Once scientists get a clearer picture, it would help design strategies that

would effectively kill or block the virus from entering the host cells, says Dr

R Paranjape, Director of NARI.

" Under funding from the Department of Biotechnology, Government of India, we

have carried out sequencing of genetic material (RNA/DNA) of over 75

near-full-length primary HIV-1 strains and also sequenced HIV-2 Envelope Genes.

This will help set up a database of Indian strains and define the molecular

characteristics of Indian HIV viruses, " says Dr Jayanta Bhattacharya, Assistant

Director of NARI and a scientist with the Department of Molecular Virology.

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/The-HIV-virus--Back-to-the-beginning/641894/