El VHI, nou gens que fan canviat la biologia i el món

Authors

  • Marta Curriu
  • Bonaventura Clotet
  • Julià Blanco

Abstract

The Human Immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the retrovirus that causes the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) has been one of the major scientific challenges over the last years and has demonstrated how science may respond to human needs. Indeed, in most developed countries, 30 years after its description, AIDS has been rapidly forgotten although it was the most famous disease. Only two years were needed to identify the etiologic agent of AIDS, the HIV, and only some years after, the first line of antiviral drugs was available, although they were not completely efficient to block HIV replication in vivo until middle 90s. We will summarize the pathway towards the knowledge of HIV and how HIV research has shed light to several fields, such as virology, immunology and medicine. We will also recapitulate the big remaining challenges, namely the eradication of the virus and the disease, which probably rely in the development of a protective vaccine. This big goal will be the best tool to stop the mortal effects of AIDS in millions of people living in developing countries.

Published

2014-02-26