1993 -Prof. Jean-Claude Chermann-

Professor Jean-Claude Chermann

King Faisal Prize in Medicine 1993 Laureate

Topic: "Acquired Immunodeficiency diseases"

Only an original method of research can bypass the diversity of strains and provide a vaccine

Nationality: France
Born: 23/3/1939, Paris, French Republic
Professor Jean-Claude Chermann was awarded the prize for his discovery, alongside his team, of the AIDS virus in 1983. The following year they described the way in which the HIV 1 virus attaches to certain white blood cells that are normally involved in the cellular response to infection by many types of bacteria & fungi, and protozoa. Later they showed that HIV 1 progressively destroys all the victims’ CD4+ cells with the result that they are no longer able to combat infections or cancer. Through extensive field work, the group demonstrated the spread of the disease in central Africa as a result of sexual transmission. In 1986, the team described a second but less virulent retrovirus which is responsible for AIDS in West Africa. This retrovirus has come to be known as HIV 2. The discovery of HIV 1 and 2 has opened the way to the development of diagnostic methods for AIDS and its prodromal syndrome.
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