Blue Origin’s New Glenn Achieves Breakthrough Success With First NASA Mission 
SpaceX Starship Test Flight Reaches New Heights but Ends in Setback 
NASA Partners with Katalyst to Save Swift Observatory with Innovative Docking Mission 
Ancient Mars may have had a carbon cycle − a new study suggests the red planet may have once been warmer, wetter and more favorable for life 
Kennedy Sets September Deadline to Uncover Autism Causes Amid Controversy 
Neuralink Expands Brain Implant Trials with 12 Global Patients 
Trump Signs Executive Order to Boost AI Research in Childhood Cancer 
Is space worth the cost? Accounting experts say its value can’t be found in spreadsheets 
Astronomers have discovered another puzzling interstellar object − this third one is big, bright and fast 
Lab-grown meat: you may find it icky, but it could drive forward medical research 
CDC Vaccine Review Sparks Controversy Over Thimerosal Study Citation 
FDA Pilot Program Eases Rules for Nicotine Pouch Makers 
Several significant developments in the field of HIV/AIDS cure studies have been reported this year. Now, adding to that is an HIV vaccine entering human trials after it has been in development for more than 30 years.
HIV vaccine to be tested on over 3,000 men
The said vaccine is being developed under the efforts of pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson and will undergo human testing before 2019 ends. The trials will take place in the United States and across Europe with around 3,800 male subjects who have sexual intercourse with men.
The report was confirmed by Bloomberg through the statements of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director Anthony Fauci. J&J and Fauci’s agency will partner with the HIV Vaccine Trials Network to push through with the testing. Parties involved reportedly expect to see results in a matter of four years or sometime in 2023.
Human trials are said to be carried out in four batches. In each session, every patient will be given six doses of the vaccine.
HIV/AIDS: Vaccine saw prior successful animal testing
The said HIV vaccine was previously tested on animals and researchers saw promising results after reportedly killing the virus for the first time on mice subjects. The procedure was successful once the scientists combined CRISPR-Cas9 or CRISPR with a type of antiretroviral treatment.
Researchers used “humanized” mice subjects infected with HIV for the animal testing of the vaccine. The treatment employs the combination of long-acting slow-effective release (LASER) ART and gene-editing tool CRISPR. In the study’s publication in Nature Communications, the researchers report seeing “viral clearance” after administering vaccines with LASER ART and CRISPR. But when used separately, the virus remained undetectable on the human-model mouse subjects.
HIV/AIDS remains a global epidemic
With the lack of cure and prevention measures that need to be improved around the world, HIV/AIDS remains a global epidemic. As of 2018, the UNAIDS reports 37.9 million people are living with HIV. Of the 37.7 million patients, over 36 million are adults, and the rest are children.
The more pressing issue from those figures is the fact that only 23.3 million people have access to ART therapy. The data also show the need to improve HIV testing drives in various regions as more than 8 million patients did not initially know of their status.
