ABOUT 1 per cent of white people are genetically protected from the virus that causes AIDS according to a study published in Cell magazine by a New York research team.
In tests on the cells of two people who had been exposed to the virus often but had not been infected, researchers concluded a genetic mutation in which a small part of a gene is missing prevented production of a protein to which most sexually transmitted strains of the disease attach when invading a cell.
Researchers warned that even people known to have the mutant gene should continue to guard against HIV, but they said the discovery may help find a way to, stop infection or slow the spread of the virus.
Though the two men tested lacked the gene, called CKR-5 they remained healthy, leading researchers to conclude that a treatment based on the gene holds promise.
"This data. . tells us that if drugs are developed to block the activity of the CKR-5 gene, they are likely to prevent AIDS and my not have adverse side-effects" the researchers, from the Aaron Diamonds AIDS Research Centre said.
The two men who were CKR-5 deficient were not related. Researchers said they came to their doctors for tests because they knew they had numerous unprotected sexual encounters with people known to have AIDS.
After conducting test tube experiments on the men's cells researchers concluded they could resist infection even after being exposed to HIV doses 1,000 times greater than the amount usually needed to cause infection.