HIV co-discoverer Dr. Robert Gallo on AIDS research over the past 20 years

HIV co-discoverer Dr. Robert Gallo

(CNN) -- Dr. Robert Gallo is the Director of the Institute of Human Virology at the University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute. He is also a Professor of Medicine and Microbiology in the School of Medicine at the University of Maryland in Baltimore. Dr. Gallo was part of the research group that first discovered HIV. Later they discovered that HIV was the cause of AIDS.

CNN Moderator: Can you take us back to the atmosphere 20 years ago when this first all began?

Dr. Robert Gallo: The atmosphere was rapidly changing, unlike the consistency and sanity of now. There was a wild fluctuation of the atmosphere, fluctuation of emotions, ever-changing for the first several years. There were innumerable passionate thoughts flying around, all kinds of theories about the cause, all kinds of conspiracies, not really understanding the patient population very well, and the patients not understanding the scientists, either.

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It all improved, over time. It was also exhilarating, because of the incredible scientific advances coming week by week. The late Jonathan Mann called it the greatest scientific speed in discovery. He summarized AIDS by saying that 1960-1981 was the silent spread, 1981-82 was recognition, 1983-85 was intense discovery and 86-88 was globalization of educational programs. I usually add another statement: ending the problem and beginning with treatment is a question mark. The first treatment was AZT with any effect; that was around 1986. 1995 and 96 was the triple drug therapy, which was a big step forward.

The atmosphere was exciting with advances, but we were watching people die. So no matter how well the science was going, there was an emptiness also. That 1983-85 period was really something special, though, in terms of science advances.

Question from chat room: What was the first documented occurrence of HIV?

Dr. Robert Gallo: The first documented occurrence -- the evidence that one infection was found in a human -- was in the 1960's. There was a claim that a European sailor was infected in 1959, but I'm not sure that was documented precisely.

You can be sure that infections occurred earlier. This can be determined by molecular analysis of the genes of the virus, and you can see how long it takes to have certain variances. However, I've always thought that people were likely infected in the rainforests for a very long time, but died with their disease. When mass migration occurred in Africa from the rainforests to the cities, that's when we saw the great outbreak. With war and famine, contacts were increased among people, including sexual contacts. What was isolated and rare became less isolated and less rare. With travel, the economy, blood traveling from country to country, you could argue that the rainforest moved to the rest of the world. You probably know that the infection came to man from infections from African primates that probably infected people while hunting or skinning animals, etc. But the epidemic dates from the '60s.

CNN Moderator: What do you see as most important at this stage: prevention programs? Research for a cure? Drug therapy developments?

Dr. Robert Gallo: I have to say that we put our money where our voice is, and our institute has a major clinical research program to find new ways for treatments that are less toxic. We try to think when they'd be feasible for the third world. We have an equally large program to try to develop a preventative vaccine. Even if we had one, we'd have tens of millions of people who still need therapy. We give about equal attention to those two things. Education isn't big in our institute, but that doesn't mean we think it's not important. It's not our major strength, though. If you don't have a vaccine for people not infected, then educational programs are tremendously important. It's very difficult to say which is more important, though.

Question from chat room: What do you see as being the major challenges facing related both to AIDS research and other virus related research with regards to world health?

Dr. Robert Gallo: I think the major challenge to the scientist is to gain sufficient understanding, coupled with good common practical sense, to be able to take research that gives therapy to practical feasibility for the third world. That's an enormous, ever present challenge. We're trying. Equally challenging is developing preventive vaccines for certain difficult microbes, and HIV research. We feel in our institute that an HIV preventive vaccine must be complete, that is, to completely protect against infection. Indeed, there's a kind of consensus that we'll have vaccines that are only partially effective. I believe that's dangerous, because the virus could come back full blast. We have to develop a completely protective vaccine. That's a challenge for HIV. If we can do it for HIV, we can do it for almost anything. HIV is an unusual thing, called a retrovirus. As soon as it hits a cell, it inserts its code into that cell. The vaccine has to be very quick. These are great challenges, and will spill over into other microbes as well.

CNN Moderator: Looking back now on the progress in the last 20 years, what do expect to see in the next 20 with relation to HIV and AIDS?

Dr. Robert Gallo: I expect it to be finished. On the way, getting there, I expect to see better approaches to therapy that aren't so toxic, and I expect us to have solved the problems in the third world, by making it cheaper. I expect that we'll have a preventive vaccine. I anticipate that if I were younger, I'd be able to return full time to cancer research at the end of that period.

CNN Moderator: Do you have any final thoughts to share with us?

Dr. Robert Gallo: The atmosphere of support is much greater now. I think the whole scientific community has learned a great deal. AIDS will leave a legacy. HIV and AIDS research have borrowed from other areas of research, and we hope to give back. We think AIDS research will have a legacy of patient advocacy, also.

CNN Moderator: Thank you for joining us today.

Dr. Robert Gallo: I would like to say goodbye to all of you, and thank you for having me on.

Dr. Robert Gallo joined the chat room via telephone from Washington, DC and CNN.com provided a typist. The above is an edited transcript of the interview on Tuesday, June 05, 2001 at 1:30 p.m. EDT.