Mutagen KP-1461 looks like both thymine and cytosine — the T and C of the four-letter DNA alphabet — which means it might cause the ever-changing human immunodeficiency virus to mutate “to death”:
The results of the latest Phase Two clinical trial, completed last year with 13 patients, were mixed; some patients saw no drop in their viral load, while others saw a dramatic drop. The scientists are currently working to publish the study results.What’s clear is that KP-1461 does eventually destroy HIV in some patients, unlike the current batch of antiretroviral drugs, which limit the reproduction of the virus but fail to destroy it.
KP-1461 doesn’t have any known side effects, but the worry from the Food and Drug Administration is that a drug that induces mutation in a virus could also cause dangerous mutations in the patient’s own DNA.