Gene Therapy Finally Cures AIDS?

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Gene Therapy Finally Cures AIDS

There's a mantra in the AIDS field: HIV infection can be managed with

antiretroviral drugs, but it can't be cured. Now a small success in a

new

gene-therapy study suggests that it may be possible to derail the virus

once and

for all.

In a study published today in Science Translational Medicine,

researchers

from the City of Hope National Medical Center, a medical research

institute

in Duarte, California, describe how they removed immune stem cells from

four cancer patients also infected with HIV, stitched in genes to outwit

the

virus, and transplanted the fortified cells back into the men.

The genes have continued to work, albeit at extremely low levels, for up

to 2 years. The altered stem cells also matured and, as hoped,

diversified

into different types of immune system cells that HIV infects.

Ultimately,

the researchers hope the anti-HIV genes can clear the virus or, failing

that,

render it harmless.

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http://ow.ly/20dSo