Pinning down an effective way to combat the spread of the
human immunodeficiency virus, the viral precursor to AIDS, has long been a
challenge for scientists and physicians, because the virus is an elusive one
that mutates frequently and, as a result, quickly becomes immune to medication.
A team of Drexel University researchers is trying to get one step ahead of the
virus with a microbicide they’ve created that can trick HIV into “popping”
itself into oblivion.
Its name is DAVEI - which stands for “Dual Action Virolytic
Entry Inhibitor”- and it can pull a fast one on HIV. DAVEI was invented and
tested by scientists from Drexel’s College of Engineering; School of Biomedical
Engineering, Science and Health Systems; and College of Medicine, and is the
latest in a new generation of HIV treatments that function by specifically
destroying the virus without harming healthy cells.