Gene Therapy Could be The Cure for HIV/AIDS
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Scientists from all over the world discussed the possibility of a cure of HIV/AIDS at the 18th International AIDS Conference held in Vienna.
Antiretroviral drugs can keep human immunodeficiency virus or HIV from replicating. But the virus remains dormant, not eradicated. The worse part is that HIV may spread under certain conditions.
That is the view shared by Dr. Frank Maldarelli from the United States National Cancer Institute and Maureen Goodenow of the University of Florida.
Dr. Maldarelli was quoted as telling reporters "All the drugs we have now available only affect active replication." And Dr. Goodenow said current therapies can only control HIV, not eradicate it.
One case discussed at a two-day workshop called "Towards a Cure", which was led by Nobel laureate Francoise Barre-Sinoussi who helped identify HIV, suggested that there is some hope for a HIV/AIDS cure.
Dr. Gero Hutter of Berlin's Charite-Medical University reported the case saying that a man who received a bone barrow transplant appears to have cured him of HIV.
What happened is that the immune cells in the patient became resistant to HIV after the transplant because they do not have the so-called CCR5 receptor due to a mutation in the donor. Without the receptor in this case, HIV simply can not infect new cells and replicate itself.
The patient does not feel ill and does not use antiretroviral drugs two years after the transplantation, Dr Maldarelli was cited by ABC News as saying.
This case, according to scientists, indicates that gene therapy or gene transfer technology may provide a cure for HIV/AIDS in the future.
For now, the most important thing for HIV carriers to do is prevent HIV from developing into AIDS by taking antiretroviral drugs.
In addition to the HIV medications, patients may also consider taking certain dietary supplements, which may be helpful in some cases.
By David Liu
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