University of Ghana: Researcher Makes Breakthrough For Anti-HIV Medicine Development

• A lecturer at the University of Ghana has achieved a major breakthrough in efforts to better fight the HIV virus
• Dr Jerry Joe Harrison has been able to get a stable HIV Polyprotein expression using a chemical formula he developed himself
• His achievement will enable a better understanding of the deadly virus by scientists to design more effective medicines to fight it

A scientist at the University of Ghana, Legon, has made a breakthrough in the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) that is expected to help develop better medicines to fight the virus.

Dr Jerry Joe Harrison, a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Chemistry, School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences (SPMS), has developed a formula that enables stable HIV Polyprotein expression.

Scientists explain that the HIV Polyprotein, a key protein that helps HIV to multiply and propagate, must be stable before scientists can determine its structure. Scientists need to determine the structure of a virus to formulate medical preparations that can effectively fight it.

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The University of Ghana, which has published news about the breakthrough by the Ghanaian scientist on its website, said the finding is coming 40 years after the discovery of HIV.

Dr Harrison has published a cutting-edge research paper on his Structural Studies of HIV Polyprotein with his collaborators from Rutgers University and Salk Institute in the United States.

According to the University of Ghana, the paper, published in Science Advances, has received worldwide recognition.

With the molecular structure of this important protein unravelled, Dr Jerry Joe Harrison, co-first author of the paper, and the team of scientists from the USA believe this will be a major contributor to the development of new anti-HIV medicines.

University of Ghana female lecturer who became professor at age 39 shares her story

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YEN.com.gh reported in a previous story that a brilliant Ghanaian lecturer by the name of Nana Ama Browne Klutse was granted an interview where she recounted how she became an associate professor at the University of Ghana.

The video sighted by YEN.com.gh on the YouTube channel of XYZ Broadcasting had Nana Ama sharing that she drew up in an community where teenage pregnancy was the norm of the day but she still strive and built a better future for her self.

According to her, she built her first house when she was 27 years.

Recounting her story, the 41-year-old lecturer revealed that she had her secondary education at the Mfantsiman Girls Senior High School and from there, moved to University of Cape Coast for both her bachelor's and master's degree.

Source: YEN.com.gh