Azodicarbonamide (ADA) is a zinc finger inhabitor. It is a chemical product used in food industry (to make buns spongy). There are other uses for this chemical in the medical field. ADA zinc inhabitators are a class of anti-HIV drugs currently under development and entering clinical trials. The drugs block a part of HIV known as zinc fingers, which help assemble new viruses as they leave an infected cell. Blocking zinc fingers means that HIV makes copies of itself that do not work and cannot infect new cells. The National Institute of Health is studying the zinc finger inhabitator, C1-1012.
