Scientists working in Brazil hope to begin testing an AIDS vaccine in rhesus monkeys later this year. The vaccine has been in development since 2001. Scientists working on the vaccine say it will not yet eliminate the AIDS virus from the immune system, but they do believe, however, that at its current developmental stage the vaccine will keep the virus cells at a low enough amount to keep humans with HIV from transmitting the disease or developing AIDS.
A team of researchers from Sao Paulo state Butantan Biomedical Research Institute generated the HIVBr18 vaccine. Scientists there believe the monkey tests will last two years and are in need of funding to start human trials.
"Our goal is to test various immunization methods to select the one capable of inducing a stronger immunological response and thus be able to test it on humans," the Daily Telegraph reports one of the scientists on the team said.
The research team is made up of Edecio Cunha Neto, Jorge Kalil and Simone Fonseca. The rhesus monkeys were chosen as test subjects because their immune system is similar to a human being's. Rhesus monkeys can contract SIV or simian immunology virus. It is believed when SIV crossed the species barrier it led to the first case of HIV in humans.
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