Fight AIDS with ... yogurt

Bacterial "quarter" in yogurt is Lactococcus lactis (Photo: polyscience)

A friendly bacterium in yogurt will be used as a raw material to produce drugs to prevent HIV infection. Laboratory testing has shown new and inexpensive methods.

The "precious" bacteria in yogurt is Lactococcus lactis (L. lactis) that naturally produces lactic acid. It is also present in the intestinal tract and vagina, where lactic acid is able to inhibit the growth of toxic bacteria.

Dr. Bharat Ramratnam, Brown's medical school, came up with an initiative to transform the gene sequence of L. lactis to produce cyanovirin - a drug to prevent HIV infection . Tests on monkeys and human cells have yielded very positive results: Cyanovirin is caused by L. lactis to neutralize sugar molecules in the HIV virus and control a receptor that the virus uses to attack healthy cells. The team plans to test this technique on the body in 2007.

Mỹ Linh (according to Rediff)