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They removed HIV from the genome of living animals
Great news for medicine occurred in recent days when US scientists managed to eradicate a type of virus that causes human immunodeficiency (HIV) from its genome from living animals. This magnificent advance was announced last Tuesday in the journal Nature.
This research was led by the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University (Philadelphia) and the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC), this is undoubtedly a great advance for the implementation and development of a possible cure. of HIV-1, as this is the most common type of this virus.
Kamel Khalili, a resident of the Lewis Katz center, explained through a statement what the achievement that occurred through the investigation means, saying:
"Our study demonstrates that treatment to suppress HIV replication and gene editing therapy, when occurring sequentially, can eliminate HIV in cells and organs of infected animals."
It is stated that the treatment that can be given in these cases should focus on antiretroviral therapy, since this interrupts the replication of HIV, without eliminating it from the organism that possesses it.
It is clear that this is not a cure, but it is of great importance because the interruption of treatment reactivates the replication of the virus causing the development of AIDS, therefore, its treatment must be carried out for life in affected patients.
The HIV virus is easily reactivated because it has the ability to integrate its DNA sequence within the genomes of the immune system, being able to inactivate itself and be outside the effect of antiretroviral drugs.
"We now have a clear path forward to non-human primate trials and perhaps clinical trials with human patients within a year," Khalili concluded.
