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41% of getS.E.T.go! readers think that the most important benefit of hosting the Square Kilometre Array telescope, would be the boost it gives our international reputation as experts in this field. |
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Scientists at Stellenbosch University have developed a high-tech "tea bag" filter that fits into the neck of a bottle and turns polluted water into clean water as you drink from it.
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A breakthrough in HIV/AIDS research was released earlier this year at an HIV/AIDS world conference in Vienna: a vaginal gel, called a microbicide, that can be used without a man knowing it, gave women a 39% chance of avoiding infection with the deadly virus.
The results of the South African trial also showed that women who used the gel most faithfully did better, achieving 54% protection.
The announcement was made at the outset of the 18th International AIDS Conference in Vienna, Austria, by husband/wife researchers Quarraisha Abdool Karim, PhD, and Salim S Abdool Karim, MD, PhD, of the Centre for the AIDS Programme of Research in South Africa (CAPRISA) and Columbia University.
Funded primarily by the United States government, the trial revealed an unexpected bonus: that the gel protected women even better against genital herpes. The investigators were not sure why, but the gel contains tenofovir, an antiviral drug, and AIDS and herpes are both viral.
It is believed that the price of a single dose of the gel could fall below that of a condom because the applicators are just moulded plastic and as yet, are without patent restrictions.
Experts say that using a gel rather than a pill means that the drug infuses the genital tracts but hardly reaches the blood. This lowers the chances that a woman who gets infected anyway might develop tenofovir-resistant virus.
However, an article in the New York Times says that the research raises hopes – but also many questions, such as:
- Can the gel and applicators be made cheaply enough for poor countries?
- Is it safe enough to use daily?
- Can pregnant women use it?
- Might it also work for men?
A complex multination trial of several methods, including microbicide, is due to end in 2013, but a rapid new one may be designed as quickly as possible. Globally, more than a million women a year die of AIDS, so speed is important.
Extracted from an article in the New York Times, by Donald G McNei Jr. Click here for the full article.