The journal Science has lauded an eye-opening HIV study, known as HPTN
052, as the most important scientific breakthrough of 2011. This
clinical trial demonstrated that people infected with HIV are 96 per
cent less likely to transmit the virus to their partners if they take
antiretroviral drugs (ARVs).
According to a release from Science, the findings end a long-standing
debate over whether ARVs could provide a double benefit by treating
the virus in individual patients while simultaneously cutting
transmission rates. It's now clear that the drugs can provide
treatment as well as prevention when it comes to HIV, researchers
agree.
About 1,800 heterosexual couples from nine different countries:
Brazil, India, Thailand, the United States, Botswana, Kenya, Malawi,
South Africa and Zimbabwe were enrolled for the study. Each
participating couple included one partner with an HIV infection.
The researchers administered ARVs to half of those HIV-infected
individuals immediately and waited for the other half of the infected
participants to develop CD4 counts below 250 — indicative of severe
immune damage — before offering treatment. (A CD4 count below 200
indicates AIDS.)
Then, earlier this year, four years before the study was officially
scheduled to end, an independent monitoring board decided that all
infected study participants should receive ARVs at once. The board
members had seen the dramatic effects of early ARV treatment on HIV
transmission rates, and they recommended that the trial's findings be
made public as soon as possible. The results were published on August
11 in the New England Journal of Medicine
"This [HPTN 052 trial] does not mean that treating people alone will
end an epidemic," said Science news correspondent Jon Cohen, who wrote
about the trial for Science's Breakthrough of the Year feature. "But,
combined with three other major biomedical preventions that have
proven their worth in large clinical studies since 2005, many
researchers now believe it is possible to break the back of the
epidemic in specific locales with the right package of interventions."
"Most everyone expected that reducing the amount of virus in a person
would somewhat reduce infectiousness," explained Jon Cohen. "What was
surprising was the magnitude of protection and then the impact the
results had among HIV/AIDS researchers, advocates and policy-makers."
These findings have added important momentum to a movement, already
underway, that promotes the ongoing treatment of HIV to reduce viral
loads in communities and could possibly eliminate HIV/AIDS epidemics
in some countries. But there are many problems in implementing it on a
large-scale.
Still, some researchers consider HPTN 052 a "game-changer" because of
its near-100 percent efficacy in reducing HIV transmission rates. And,
indeed, it has already sprung many clinicians and policy-makers into
action. For all these reasons, Science spotlights the HPTN 052 study
as the 2011 Breakthrough of the Year.
Science's and its publisher, AAAS, the non-profit science society,
have identified nine other groundbreaking scientific accomplishments
during 2011.
The Hayabusa Mission: After some near-disastrous technical
difficulties and a stunningly successful recovery, Japan's Hayabusa
spacecraft returned to Earth with dust from the surface of a large, S-
type asteroid. This asteroid dust represented the first direct
sampling of a planetary body in 35 years, and analysis of the grains
confirmed that the most common meteorites found on Earth, known as
ordinary chondrules, are born from these much larger, S-type
asteroids.
Unraveling Human Origins: Studying the genetic code of both ancient
and modern human beings, researchers discovered that many humans still
carry DNA variants inherited from archaic humans, such as the
mysterious Denisovans in Asia and still-unidentified ancestors in
Africa. One study this year revealed how archaic humans likely shaped
our modern immune systems, and an analysis of Australopithecus sediba
fossils in South Africa showed that the ancient hominin possessed both
primitive and Homo-like traits.
Capturing a Photosynthetic Protein: In vivid detail, researchers in
Japan have mapped the structure of the Photosystem II, or PSII,
protein that plants use to split water into hydrogen and oxygen atoms.
The crystal-clear image shows off the protein's catalytic core and
reveals the specific orientation of atoms within. Now, scientists have
access to this catalytic structure that is essential for life on Earth
— one that may also hold the key to a powerful source of clean energy.
Pristine Gas in Space: Astronomers using the Keck telescope in Hawaii
to probe the faraway universe wound up discovering two clouds of
hydrogen gas that seem to have maintained their original chemistry for
two billion years after the big bang. Other researchers identified a
star that is almost completely devoid of metals, just as the
universe's earliest stars must have been, but that formed much later.
The discoveries show that pockets of matter persisted unscathed amid
eons of cosmic violence.
Getting to Know the Microbiome: Research into the countless microbes
that dwell in the human gut demonstrated that everyone has a dominant
bacterium leading the gang in their digestive tract: Bacteroides,
Prevotella or Ruminococcus. Follow-up studies revealed that one of
these bacteria thrives on a high-protein diet while another prefers
vegetarian fare. These findings and more helped to clarify the
interplay between diet and microbes in nutrition and disease.
A Promising Malaria Vaccine: Early results of the clinical trial of a
malaria vaccine, known as RTS,S, provided a shot in the arm to malaria
vaccine research. The ongoing trial, which has enrolled more than
15,000 children from seven African countries, reassured malaria
researchers, who are used to bitter disappointment, that discovering a
malaria vaccine remains possible.
Strange Solar Systems: This year, astronomers got their first good
views of several distant planetary systems and discovered that things
are pretty weird out there. First, NASA's Kepler observatory helped
identify a star system with planets orbiting in ways that today's
models cannot explain. Then, researchers discovered a gas giant caught
in a rare "retrograde" orbit, a planet circling a binary star system
and 10 planets that seem to be freely floating in space — all unlike
anything found in our own solar system.
Designer Zeolites: Zeolites are porous minerals that are used as
catalysts and molecular sieves to convert oil into gasoline, purify
water, filter air and produce laundry detergents (to name a few uses).
This year, chemists really showed off their creativity by designing a
range of new zeolites that are cheaper, thinner and better equipped to
process larger organic molecules.
Clearing Senescent Cells: Experiments have revealed that clearing
senescent cells (those that have stopped dividing) from the bodies of
mice can delay the onset of age-related symptoms.
Mice whose bodies were cleared of these loitering cells didn't live
longer than their untreated cage-mates — but they did seem to live
better, which provided researchers with some hope that banishing
senescent cells might also prolong our golden years.
052, as the most important scientific breakthrough of 2011. This
clinical trial demonstrated that people infected with HIV are 96 per
cent less likely to transmit the virus to their partners if they take
antiretroviral drugs (ARVs).
According to a release from Science, the findings end a long-standing
debate over whether ARVs could provide a double benefit by treating
the virus in individual patients while simultaneously cutting
transmission rates. It's now clear that the drugs can provide
treatment as well as prevention when it comes to HIV, researchers
agree.
About 1,800 heterosexual couples from nine different countries:
Brazil, India, Thailand, the United States, Botswana, Kenya, Malawi,
South Africa and Zimbabwe were enrolled for the study. Each
participating couple included one partner with an HIV infection.
The researchers administered ARVs to half of those HIV-infected
individuals immediately and waited for the other half of the infected
participants to develop CD4 counts below 250 — indicative of severe
immune damage — before offering treatment. (A CD4 count below 200
indicates AIDS.)
Then, earlier this year, four years before the study was officially
scheduled to end, an independent monitoring board decided that all
infected study participants should receive ARVs at once. The board
members had seen the dramatic effects of early ARV treatment on HIV
transmission rates, and they recommended that the trial's findings be
made public as soon as possible. The results were published on August
11 in the New England Journal of Medicine
"This [HPTN 052 trial] does not mean that treating people alone will
end an epidemic," said Science news correspondent Jon Cohen, who wrote
about the trial for Science's Breakthrough of the Year feature. "But,
combined with three other major biomedical preventions that have
proven their worth in large clinical studies since 2005, many
researchers now believe it is possible to break the back of the
epidemic in specific locales with the right package of interventions."
"Most everyone expected that reducing the amount of virus in a person
would somewhat reduce infectiousness," explained Jon Cohen. "What was
surprising was the magnitude of protection and then the impact the
results had among HIV/AIDS researchers, advocates and policy-makers."
These findings have added important momentum to a movement, already
underway, that promotes the ongoing treatment of HIV to reduce viral
loads in communities and could possibly eliminate HIV/AIDS epidemics
in some countries. But there are many problems in implementing it on a
large-scale.
Still, some researchers consider HPTN 052 a "game-changer" because of
its near-100 percent efficacy in reducing HIV transmission rates. And,
indeed, it has already sprung many clinicians and policy-makers into
action. For all these reasons, Science spotlights the HPTN 052 study
as the 2011 Breakthrough of the Year.
Science's and its publisher, AAAS, the non-profit science society,
have identified nine other groundbreaking scientific accomplishments
during 2011.
The Hayabusa Mission: After some near-disastrous technical
difficulties and a stunningly successful recovery, Japan's Hayabusa
spacecraft returned to Earth with dust from the surface of a large, S-
type asteroid. This asteroid dust represented the first direct
sampling of a planetary body in 35 years, and analysis of the grains
confirmed that the most common meteorites found on Earth, known as
ordinary chondrules, are born from these much larger, S-type
asteroids.
Unraveling Human Origins: Studying the genetic code of both ancient
and modern human beings, researchers discovered that many humans still
carry DNA variants inherited from archaic humans, such as the
mysterious Denisovans in Asia and still-unidentified ancestors in
Africa. One study this year revealed how archaic humans likely shaped
our modern immune systems, and an analysis of Australopithecus sediba
fossils in South Africa showed that the ancient hominin possessed both
primitive and Homo-like traits.
Capturing a Photosynthetic Protein: In vivid detail, researchers in
Japan have mapped the structure of the Photosystem II, or PSII,
protein that plants use to split water into hydrogen and oxygen atoms.
The crystal-clear image shows off the protein's catalytic core and
reveals the specific orientation of atoms within. Now, scientists have
access to this catalytic structure that is essential for life on Earth
— one that may also hold the key to a powerful source of clean energy.
Pristine Gas in Space: Astronomers using the Keck telescope in Hawaii
to probe the faraway universe wound up discovering two clouds of
hydrogen gas that seem to have maintained their original chemistry for
two billion years after the big bang. Other researchers identified a
star that is almost completely devoid of metals, just as the
universe's earliest stars must have been, but that formed much later.
The discoveries show that pockets of matter persisted unscathed amid
eons of cosmic violence.
Getting to Know the Microbiome: Research into the countless microbes
that dwell in the human gut demonstrated that everyone has a dominant
bacterium leading the gang in their digestive tract: Bacteroides,
Prevotella or Ruminococcus. Follow-up studies revealed that one of
these bacteria thrives on a high-protein diet while another prefers
vegetarian fare. These findings and more helped to clarify the
interplay between diet and microbes in nutrition and disease.
A Promising Malaria Vaccine: Early results of the clinical trial of a
malaria vaccine, known as RTS,S, provided a shot in the arm to malaria
vaccine research. The ongoing trial, which has enrolled more than
15,000 children from seven African countries, reassured malaria
researchers, who are used to bitter disappointment, that discovering a
malaria vaccine remains possible.
Strange Solar Systems: This year, astronomers got their first good
views of several distant planetary systems and discovered that things
are pretty weird out there. First, NASA's Kepler observatory helped
identify a star system with planets orbiting in ways that today's
models cannot explain. Then, researchers discovered a gas giant caught
in a rare "retrograde" orbit, a planet circling a binary star system
and 10 planets that seem to be freely floating in space — all unlike
anything found in our own solar system.
Designer Zeolites: Zeolites are porous minerals that are used as
catalysts and molecular sieves to convert oil into gasoline, purify
water, filter air and produce laundry detergents (to name a few uses).
This year, chemists really showed off their creativity by designing a
range of new zeolites that are cheaper, thinner and better equipped to
process larger organic molecules.
Clearing Senescent Cells: Experiments have revealed that clearing
senescent cells (those that have stopped dividing) from the bodies of
mice can delay the onset of age-related symptoms.
Mice whose bodies were cleared of these loitering cells didn't live
longer than their untreated cage-mates — but they did seem to live
better, which provided researchers with some hope that banishing
senescent cells might also prolong our golden years.
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