The fact that it took such relatively small amount of time and effort actually scares the research team. That's because the therapy itself is a virus. They genetically altered a virus such that it latches on to the HIV virus and mutes its ability to transform into the full-blown AIDS disease. They've tested the altered virus in a computer model and in cells in a dish. The results have been promising, and if all goes as planned, the researchers could begin animal testing by the end of this year.

UC Berkeley researcher Leor Weinberger (a Lab guest) and his colleague were contemplating the failure of conventional therapies to get to grips with HIV. "The vast majority of scientists don't believe it's possible to eliminate the virus or to develop a protective vaccine," he says. So he got to thinking of an entirely different approach: rather than destroying the virus, try instead to live with it. The result of his research is the design for a genetically modified virus that he hopes will be every bit as pervasive as HIV. "I'm apprehensive," admits Adam Arkin, head of the Physical Bioscience Division's Systems Biology effort and leader of the research team. "We are 99.99 percent certain nothing bad will happen, but you don't want to use a treatment like this until your understanding is good enough." Read the Wired article about the potential HIV treatment strategy.

Systems Biology in the Physical Biosciences Division
The multi-disciplinary, integrated approach to large biological challenges is the foundation of the Physical Biosciences Division. This concept is formally reflected in our Systems Biology Department and its primary research program, the Virtual Institute for Microbial Stress and Survival (VIMSS).

The inaugural project for VIMSS is a $36.6 million study for Genomes to Life, a national initiative in systems-level biology from the Department of Energy's Office of Science/Biological and Environmental Research. VIMSS supports an integrated program to understand and predict the ability of micro-organisms to respond to and survive in highly contaminated environments. This research aims to provide scientific breakthroughs that will greatly reduce the time and expense of remediating the nation's waste sites. In doing so, scientists will better understand the structure and action of these microbes and how they can be redesigned for exciting new purposes. VIMSS investigators are also developing projects to investigate microbial systems with possible applications to detection, remediation, disease therapy, nanotechnology and fundamental research applicable to counter-terrorism.

Contacts:

Adam Arkin, Principal Investigator, Department Head, Systems Biology, Berkeley Lab

Terry Hazen, Department Head, Microbial Ecology & Environmental Engineering Department, Earth Sciences Division, Berkeley Lab

Jay Keasling, Professor of Chemical Engineering, UC Berkeley