Why is there no vaccines for HIV - yet.....
Hi Folks!! Follow our blog on Instagram . BECAUSE IT IS SHAPE-SHIFTING Most vaccines induce our body to make antibodies to fight different pathogens, but HIV disguises itself so that even if we make antibodies, the virus changes to escape them. Early vaccine candidates targeted the envelope protein that encapsulates the virus genome. When we found that antibodies against the envelope protein didn't work, then we thought, maybe we could target different parts of the virus that induce T cells, which kill infected cells. However because the virus integrates itself into the host genome, the T cells didn't recognize the viruses as separate from hosts. LIMITATIONS OF CURRENT TECHNOLOGY Because the virus itself integrates into host DNA, it limits the vaccine platforms we can use. We traditionally have used live attenuated vaccines for different viral diseases like measles, mumps, and rubella, but we can't use that for HIV because of the concern that live attenuated virus could