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CNN Live At Daybreak

Progress Being Made on AIDS Vaccination

Aired September 10, 2001 - 07:40   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, there's new hope in helping to slow the global spread of AIDS. Two leading AIDS researchers say they're making progress on a vaccine that could work against all strains of the disease.

We get more on the latest medical advance from CNN's Christy Feig in Washington.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRISTY FEIG, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The problem with creating a vaccine for HIV is just when the immune system learns what to target, the virus changes and dodges the immune system. Now doctors Anthony Fauci and Robert Gallo think they have found a target on HIV that doesn't mutate.

DR. ROBERT GALLO, INSTITUTE OF HUMAN VIROLOGY: If this works in the way we believe it can and the way we are headed, then it would completely block infection.

FEIG: The science goes like this. For HIV to infect a human cell, it needs two points of entry. First, a protein on the surface of HIV hooks up with the first point on the human cell. Then the protein shifts, exposing its belly for only about 30 minutes as it prepares to latch onto the second point, causing the infection.

It's this belly that's the key. Unlike the rest of the virus that constantly mutates, the belly contains markers that never change. So Fauci and his colleagues have created a vaccine based on the infection process, freezing it before the second point of entry. The vaccine uses the consistent markers exposed on the belly to educate the immune system that HIV is the enemy. When the immune system is exposed to the virus in real life, it sees those markers and knows to kill the virus before infection.

All the science lessons aside, it will be several years before human trials. Even so, experts say early studies show this may be the right path to follow.

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH: The concept itself is a very interesting concept that certainly deserves very active pursuing.

FEIG: There are already more than 20 other HIV vaccines that use different approaches in various stages of testing.

(on camera): Because of the complexities of this virus, those vaccines may not provide 100 percent protection. But experts believe even partial protection could slow the global impact of the epidemic.

Christy Feig, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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