http://phys.org/ en-us Phys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. To test the severity of a viral infection, clinicians try to gauge how many viruses are packed into a certain volume of blood or other bodily fluid. This measurement, called viral load, helps doctors diagnose or monitor chronic viral diseases such as HIV/AIDS and hepatitis. However, the standard methods used for these tests are only able to estimate the number of viruses in a given volume of fluid. Now two independent teams have developed new optics-based methods for determining the exact viral load of a sample by counting individual virus particles. These new methods are faster and cheaper than standard tests and they offer the potential to conduct the measurements in a medical office or hospital instead of a laboratory. The teams will present their latest results at the Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics (CLEO: 2013), to be held June 9-14, in San Jose, Calif. http://phys.org/news289130352.html Chemistry Thu, 30 May 2013 10:59:23 EST news289130352 With the help of effective drug therapies, HIV patients are living longer, healthier lives. Now, researchers want to improve these drug therapies and develop alternative preventative strategies, such as vaginal gels and creams that contain the same or related compounds used in treatments for people infected with HIV. A University of Missouri researcher is developing a compound that is more potent and longer-lasting than current HIV therapies. http://phys.org/news183658376.html Medicine & Health Mon, 25 Jan 2010 16:13:35 EST news183658376 A new technique that detects the HIV virus early and monitors its development without requiring refrigeration may make AIDS testing more accessible in sub-Saharan Africa. http://phys.org/news167394754.html Medicine & Health Tue, 21 Jul 2009 11:50:01 EST news167394754 One of the continuing mysteries of the HIV/AIDS epidemic is why women usually develop lower viral levels than men following acute HIV-1 infection but progress faster to AIDS than men with similar viral loads. Now a research team based at the Ragon Institute of Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), MIT and Harvard has found that a receptor molecule involved in the first-line recognition of HIV-1 responds to the virus differently in women, leading to subsequent differences in chronic T cell activation, a known predictor of disease progression. Their paper, which will be published in an upcoming issue of Nature Medicine, is receiving early online release. http://phys.org/news166711709.html Medicine & Health Mon, 13 Jul 2009 13:48:55 EST news166711709 In a dramatic rewrite of the recipe for life, scientists from Florida today described the design of a new type of DNA with 12 chemical letters instead of the usual four. Presented here at the 237th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS), this artificial genetic system already is helping to usher in the era of personalized medicine for millions of patients with HIV, hepatitis and other diseases. http://phys.org/news157051841.html Chemistry Mon, 23 Mar 2009 18:31:22 EST news157051841 In a computer-based model evaluating the benefits and costs of three types of HIV disease monitoring strategies, early initiation of antiretroviral therapy and monitoring using the CD4 count, a measure of immune system function, instead of based on symptoms appear to provide health benefits in low- and middle-income countries, according to a report in the September 22 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine. http://phys.org/news141322965.html Medicine & Health Mon, 22 Sep 2008 17:22:45 EST news141322965