A ray of hope

A TEAM of researchers from Mumbai's
University Department of Chemical
Technology (UDCT) have discovered a
potential 'magic bullet' to be used in the
war against AIDS. The group of students
led by professor V M Kulkarm have
developed a drab-looking and colourless
substance which works wonders against
an HIV enzyme.

They designed three lead compounds with the help of a computer and
sent the samples f4 further tests to the
prestigious National Cancer institute in
the C s. Though all the three compounds
showed promising results against an HIV
enzyme, the organic compound code-
named VMKH-1, was found to be most
active as predicted by a computer
model. The compound acts at very
low concentrations, plus it is inexpensive and easy to prepare. The compound
awaits more intensive tests to determine
its efficacy and toxicity and for its
approval as a drug. For the research, the
team used the computer- aided -
drug design method, which is applied
to search for new chemical compounds
and bio-active molecules using special
software and sophisticated computer
workstations.