AIDS Vaccine Quest Gets $100M Injection

Without its cholesterol, virus can't harm immune system

(NEWSER) - A group of US and European scientists have discovered a way to prevent the HIV virus from harming the immune system, in a breakthrough that could lead to an entirely new approach to fighting AIDS. They discovered that by extracting cholesterol, they could render the virus a sitting duck for the immune system’s adaptive response. “It’s like an army that has lost its weapons but still has flags, so another army can recognize it and attack it,” the study’s leader explained to Reuters . More»

Vaccines should target one area, not the entire virus, new research suggests

(NEWSER) - Scientists have made an important breakthrough in HIV research, and we have the stock market to thank. Researchers used random matrix theory, which is also used to analyze stock behavior, to identify a major target for HIV and AIDS drugs—what the Wall Street Journal calls its “Achilles heel.” The research suggests that an HIV vaccine should focus on a few targets, instead of waging a broad war on the virus. Basically, this method is what a small group of patients—who control the virus without medication—known as “elite controllers” do naturally. More»

Called 'unprecedented' step forward in AIDS research

(NEWSER) - Big advances in AIDS research are hard to come by—but researchers in Oregon say their new vaccine marks a huge step forward. In a study of HIV’s monkey equivalent, the researchers found that 13 of 24 rhesus macaques given the vaccine were protected against the disease; 12 were still protected a year later, reports the BBC . The vaccine contained a genetically-altered version of the virus, which prompted the production of special blood cells that stick around well after a disease is conquered. More»

These schools offer a good return on investment

(NEWSER) - Which colleges pay off? PayScale crunched the numbers to compute the best returns on investment—by comparing the cost of a degree against what its students earn upon graduation—and Huffington Post rounds up the best of the bunch:

1. Massachusetts Institute of Technology: annual ROI: 12.6%; 30-year ROI: $1.69 million
2. California Institute of Technology: 12.6%; $1.64 million
3. Harvard: 12.5%; $1.63 million
4. Harvey Mudd College: 12.5%; $1.63 million
5. Dartmouth: 12.4%; $1.59 million

Enzyme integrase made visible for first time

(NEWSER) - After 40,000 failed trials and "painstakingly slow progress," scientists have solved a puzzle that stumped AIDS researchers for more than 20 years—and their findings could help develop more effective HIV drugs. The researchers at Harvard and Imperial College London grew a crystal that for the first time made visible the structure of integrase, the enzyme targeted by many newer HIV drugs, Reuters reports. More»