Scientists are looking ways to overcome HIV/jcomp
Scientists claim that they have successfully eliminated HIV from infected cells. They did it with the Nobel Prize-winning Crispr gene editing technology.
Working like scissors, but at the molecular level, it cuts the DNA so that the “bad” bits can be removed or inactivated. There is hope that eventually it will be possible to completely rid the body of the virus, although much work is still needed to test how safe and effective it will be, writes the BBC.
Currently, HIV drugs can stop the virus, but not eliminate it.
The University of Amsterdam team, presenting a summary of their preliminary results at a medical conference this week, emphasized that their work remains only a “proof of concept” and will not become a cure for HIV in the near future.< /p>
Dr James Dixon, associate professor of stem cell technology and gene therapy at the University of Nottingham, agrees, saying that the full results still need to be scrutinized.
Much more work will be needed to demonstrate that the results of these cellular assays can occur throughout the body for future therapies. Much more development will be needed before it can have an impact on people living with HIV,
he said.
Extremely difficult task
Other scientists are also trying to use Crispr against HIV. Excision BioTherapeutics says that after 48 weeks of use of the drug in three volunteers with HIV infection, there were no serious side effects.
But Dr. Jonathan Stoy, a virus expert at the Francis Crick Institute in London, says that removing HIV from all cells that might harbor it in the body was “extremely difficult”.
Off-target effects of treatment with possible long-term side effects remain a problem. So it's likely to be many years before any such Crispr-based therapy becomes routine — even assuming it's proven to work,
he said.
HIV infects and attacks. cells of the immune system, using their own mechanism to make copies of themselves.
Even with effective treatment, some of them go into a resting state, or a latent state – meaning they still contain DNA, or genetic material, HIV, even if they are not actively producing new virus.
Scientists say more research will be needed/Photo by freepik
Most people with HIV need antiretroviral therapy throughout their lives. If they stop taking these drugs, the dormant virus can wake up and cause problems again.
It is rare for people to be “cured” after aggressive cancer therapy has killed some of their infected cells, but this would never be recommended solely for the treatment of HIV infection.
People who who continue antiretroviral treatment, which is very effective, may have the same life expectancy as people without HIV, for example.
Richard Angell of the Terrence Higgins Trust said: “Although it is still many years away, today's research is an important step in the search for HIV drugs. The work needed to turn this technology into drugs for those already living with HIV must be accelerated.”
He noted that although there is no cure for HIV yet, it is very important that everyone knows that there is an incredibly effective treatment for HIV. This treatment means that people living with HIV can look forward to a long and healthy life. If they take the medicine as prescribed by the doctor, they cannot transmit the virus to their sexual partners.