Cold War Triangle : How Scientists in East and West Tamed HIV / Renilde Loeckx.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 175-180) and index.

Introduction -- I. Leuven : a hotbed for antiviral research -- II. Behind the Iron Curtain -- III. Strange bedfellows : a Czech chemist and a Flemish virologist -- IV. The sixties in Leuven and Prague -- V. Enzymes : the secret of life as chemistry -- VI. From interferon to nucleosides -- VII. Breaking away from interferon -- VIII. The first antiviral drugs -- IX. Aids emerges in the shadow of the Cold War -- X. From passivity to action -- XI. First attempts to halt the epidemic -- XII. Finding the best therapy : the one-a-day-pill -- Epilogue : of scientists and crusaders.

The extraordinary story of scientists in East and West combatting HIV. A small group of scientists were doggedly working in the field of antiviral treatments when the AIDS epidemic struck. Faced with one of the grand challenges of modern biology of the twentieth century, scientists worked across the political divide of the Cold War to produce a new class of antivirals. Their molecules were developed by a Californian start-up together with teams of scientists at the Rega Institute of KU Leuven and the Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry (IOCB) of the Academy of Sciences in Prague. These molecules became the cornerstone of the blockbuster drugs now used to combat and prevent HIV. Cold War Triangle gives an insight into the human face of science as it recounts the extraordinary story of scientists in East and West who overcame ideological barriers and worked together for the benefit of humanity.

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