Anti HIV Nano robots
Introduction:
HIV is a family of retrovirus carrying RNA as its genome. Previously it
was known as TLV (T lymphocyte virus) as it infects T helper cell and reduces
CD4 receptor to cause immunodeficiency in human body. At present the HIV
infection rate is very high all over the world and in India this is pretty much
alarming. Though there has no drugs been found which could destroy HIV genome
due to its high mutation frequency, Zidovudine is used to control as it
prevents reverse transcriptase to synthesize cDNA which is later integrated in
the host genome. But any time zidovudine can lose its efficiency as mutation at
HIV genome (codon 67, 70,215,219) will change RT property as it is site
specific and mutation cause it lose its specificity.
Now NANOROBOTS are
believed to be useful against this virus. Size of a nanorobots is 0.1-10
micrometer in diameter .With the development of nanotechnology and
nanoelectronics such nanorobots are being developed. This nanorobot will
consist a nano biosensor, a nano tube fixed at its tip, and two containers
containing high concentration of DNase and RNase enzyme. The function of nano
sensor is to identify the presence of a particular compound on the
transmembrane (here gp120 & gp41, the unique HIV viral regulatory protein)
of the infected cell by means of immunochemical reaction & sending signal.
On the receiving end there will be a data convertor which in turn getting +ve
signal injects the nanotubes in the nucleus and release DNase and RNase in.
These enzymes will cleave the viral genomic DNA & all mRNA produced by it
at that time into single nucleotides, as it is not site specific and mutation
of HIV genome will have no effect on the efficiency of the enzyme. In this way
destroying all the infected cell & HIV genome in the infected body this
dieses can be ended.
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