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HIV vaccine to be tested on humans
Last reviewed: 02.07.2025
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At one time, the virologist from the United States Robert Gallo was in the spotlight for ten years, since he was one of the discoverers of HIV, which leads to AIDS.
In the late 70s, Gallo studied special types of viruses - retroviruses, which were found mainly in primates; in humans, this type of virus remained undiscovered for a long time.
In the early 80s, the scientist managed to identify a type of retrovirus specific to humans (HTLV-1), which was the cause of the development of a rare form of blood cancer, then he identified another human retrovirus - HTLV-2.
For a long time, Gallo's discovery caused skepticism among the researcher's colleagues, but the discovery of the third human retrovirus forced many experts to change their point of view. The third retrovirus was HIV.
At the time of the discovery of HIV, there was much controversy – the French researchers Montagnier and Barré-Sinoussi were the first to isolate the retrovirus from the lymphatic system of a person who died of AIDS.
In their work, the French used a method developed by Robert Gallo. In 1983, an article published by French scientists put forward a hypothesis that HIV is the cause of the development of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) in humans.
A year later, Gallo published several papers that described the retrovirus in detail, as well as providing evidence that it actually caused AIDS. Gallo was also the first to suggest using a blood test to detect HIV infection.
Later it was discovered that the viruses described by Gallo and the French were practically no different, and Gallo began to be suspected of appropriating the achievements of others, since there was an exchange of laboratory samples between the USA and France.
The HIV test patent was subsequently the subject of heated debate, as both France and the United States claimed it. As a result, the patent was awarded to these two countries.
Robert Gallo has now begun testing a new HIV vaccine and the drug will soon be tested on volunteers.
Robert Gallo, together with a group of scientists from the University of Maryland School of Medicine, have already begun the first stage of clinical trials (testing began on October 8).
The virus discoverer himself explained that the new vaccine inhibits the virus during infection, this mechanism will help neutralize various strains of HIV. All researchers are confident that this principle of the vaccine will help effectively prevent the development of HIV.
The new vaccine has been in development for 15 years and all necessary tests on laboratory animals (monkeys) have already been carried out.
Robert Gallo also noted that the development of this vaccine is an important step in the study of HIV and AIDS. Although much work remains to be done, the vaccine will help to understand the reaction to the hacking of antibody defenses in humans, not animals.
Sixty volunteers will take part in the testing of the new HIV vaccine. During the testing, scientists plan to determine the safety level of the drug and study the immune response.