They then studied the effects of interferon on that newly grown tissue. Getting cells to grow outside the body is not an easy task. Jacobs and his colleagues had several problems coaxing the tissue to grow into a continuous layer. Once successful, they found that interferon could halt the reproduction of several non-HIV viruses within the placental tissue. If the findings are extended to HIV, interferon might one day be used as a treatment to prevent HIV from being passed from mother to child.
Collaborative science can be a difficult process.
But in this case, the cooperation between scientists from different disciplines paid off. Jacobs says that it would not have happened had the three researchers not met through ASU's special program for molecular and cellular biology. I come from a biochemistry background. That's necessary and that's good, but there comes a time when you have to ask how the whole thing works. That's when collaboration becomes important.