US scientists report the invention of a vaginal gel that is supposed to protect women from the possibility of a HIV infection during a sexual intercourse. Women are to introduce the vaginal gel in before they engage in sex; the incoming semen makes the gel thicken quickly thus denying AIDS virus particles access to the vaginal cells. The virus particles get caught in a microscopic mesh. So the gel operates like a sort of a “moleculilar condom” holding the stuff in.
Prof. Patrick Kiser of the University of Utah, one of the scientists connected with the discovery, explains: “The first step in the complicated process of HIV infection in a woman is the virus diffusing from semen to vaginal tissue. We want to stop that first step. We’ve created the first vaginal gel designed to prevent movement of the AIDS virus. This is unique. There’s nothing like it. We did it to develop technologies that can enable women to protect themselves against HIV without approval of their partner, which some refrain from.”
It sounds like the guys have something to be proud of, don’t they?
Source of the image: flickr.com/photos/trygveu.
