A giant step toward curing AIDS?

In September of 1982, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) first used the term AIDS to describe a new immune system disorder that was affecting predominantly gay men, dozens of whom had died. It was referred to by many as “the gay plague,” and with its stance against homosexuality, Ronald Reagan’s administration denied adequate funding to the CDC and the National Institutes of Health to develop a treatment.

The tide of public opinion toward the disease slowly began to turn in 1985 when beloved actor Rock Hudson announced he had AIDS and died 3 months later.

Starting with the first antiretroviral drug, AZT, in 1987, several drugs have been developed to increase lifespan and quality of life. However, the World Health Organization estimates that nearly 3 million people globally died from the disease from 2020-2023.

Research for a cure continues, and a recent breakthrough has scientists feeling “overwhelmed” with hope.

One of the primary hurdles to finding a cure has been the virus’s ability to hide within certain white blood cells. By using mRNA technology, which came to prominence during the Covid pandemic, cells can be instructed to reveal their HIV passengers. Researchers believe this is necessary in finding a cure.

Dr Paula Cevaal said that mRNA tests initially didn’t work, but when combined with newly designed nanoparticles, “We were overwhelmed by how [much of a] night and day difference it was – from not working before, and then all of a sudden it was working. And all of us were just sitting, gasping like, ‘wow’.”

Further research is needed, and human testing is likely years away, but those who remember the early years of the AIDS epidemic can join in the scientists’ hope for a cure.

Learn more about this exciting breakthrough in this article from The Guardian:
https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2025/jun/05/breakthrough-...