People who contribute specifically to AIDS research die

Stephen Crohn died August 23 in New York at the age of 66 due to suicide and this information was released. His extraordinary disease resistance has helped scientists to better understand HIV and find ways to treat AIDS.

In 1978, it was unclear what disease Jerry Green, Crohn's gay friend lost weight, his eyes were blind and his body was devastated by infection. A rare phenomenon in healthy people. Then Green became one of the first people to die of AIDS.

Stephen Crohn in 1996. (Photo: scanvine.com)

Years later, some of Crohn's other friends also died of the disease. Although Crohn did not take any special precautions and was still sexually active with them, he was still healthy. Crohn paid attention to the scientists. They studied gay men who were resistant to infection.

Initially, the scientists infected the virus for CD4 cells , the cell type in the HIV virus, which is often the starting point of the disease. However, 'we cannot infect the CD4 cells with viruses. An unprecedented phenomenon. Even if the amount of HIV virus is greater than a thousand times, they will not infect the CD4 , 'Dr. Paxton said.

Years later, the researchers found that the HIV virus invades the cell by attaching to two receptors on CD4 cells. But due to genetic defects, Crohn's receptors fail, they are called CCR5 . These are the genetic mutations in gene 32, which produce incomplete receptors, with a probability of less than 1% of those suffering.

Crohn's immune system studies have led to advances in HIV prevention. A CCR5 receptor blocker is currently being used in areas where HIV outbreaks occur. In 2006, an AIDS patient in Berlin was cured after receiving a bone marrow transplant from a mutant donor 32.

'This is a rare case in medicine. Because most immunologies are usually studied and discovered in animals , 'Dr. Paxton said.