I think there is a certain bravery scientists must internalize as they take on a new research project. There is no promise that there are answers for them to find, no promise that the answer they find will be the one they wanted. Years and millions of dollars of research can turn into a failure. However, this makes the success all the more amazing. There are certain problems that haunt society, leaving their mark, as blazing signs that we have yet to find an answer.
HIV/AIDS is an example of a problem into which an unimaginable amount of effort has been put into curing. However, as of yet, there is no cure. HIV, or human immunodeficiency virus, is a virus that attacks CD4 T-Cells (a vital part of the immune system that attacks invading organisms). Instead of killing the host directly, the virus weakens the immune system until the person can no longer fight off simple infections such as colds or the flu.
AIDS, or acquired immune deficiency syndrome, refers to the later stages of HIV, when the immune system has been severely compromised. At the end of 2015, there were an estimated 36.7 million people living with HIV/AIDS across the world. Most of these people live in third world countries, where a lack of access to education, medicine, and birth control has left populations ravaged by this disease and millions orphaned as they lose their parents at incredibly young ages.
In the US, I do not think we see the real effect of this disease. There are treatments: ARV drugs can suppress the virus enough to give a person with HIV a relatively healthy life, but only if you have enough money to take an expensive and intense regimen of drugs for your entire life. For many though, that is not an option. The drugs can also lead to a long list of severe side effects. Researchers have fought effortlessly for a cure, a cure that will allow people to live without drugs and free from the burden of this disease. There has been great defeat.
There is a hint of change in the air though. Just a few days ago, findings in a study on monkeys were published that left people amazed and hopeful. A group of immunologists at Emory University infected a group of monkeys with SIV (the primate version of HIV) and then attempted to treat them with Alpha4Beta7, an antibody that is found on the surface of CD4 cells. The findings were unexpected and gave no clear-cut answers. However, the monkeys treated with antibiotics had noticeably lower levels of SIV 8 months out, in comparison with the monkeys treated with a placebo. Already, they have been able to start human trials. I cannot tell you much about how this works because they know very little. There is not yet a clear understanding of exactly what mechanistic changes occurred.
In reality, this may all amount to nothing, or it could be a moment we will etch into the pages of history. In science, we rarely know exactly what the outcome will be. Perhaps we will fail. Perhaps we will change the world. If you have the bravery to follow through and commit, you may change the world.
Katherine Estep is a junior majoring in neuroscience.
Sources
http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/10/antibody-treatment-surprisingly-cures-monkeys-hiv-infection
https://www.aids.gov/hiv-aids-basics/hiv-aids-101/global-statistics/
https://www.aids.gov/hiv-aids-basics/hiv-aids-101/what-is-hiv-aids/