Scientists say they have been able to successfully remove HIV from infected cells using the Nobel Prize-winning Crispr gene-editing technology.
Working like scissors, but at the molecular level, it cuts the DNA so that the parts “bad”
can be removed or deactivated, writes bbc.com.
The hope is that eventually it will be possible to completely rid the body of the virus, although much more work is needed to verify that this would be safe and effective.
Existing HIV drugs can stop the virus, but not eliminate it.
The team from the University of Amsterdam, which presented a summary of its first findings at a medical conference this week, stresses that their work remains only a “proof of concept” and will not become a cure for HIV anytime soon.
Dr James Dixon, Associate Professor of Stem Cell Technologies and Gene Therapy at the University of Nottingham, agrees, saying the full results still require further analysis.
“Much more work will be needed to demonstrate that the results obtained in these cell tests can take place in a whole body for future therapy.”
he said.
“Much more development will be needed before this has an impact on people with HIV.”
Extremely difficult
Other scientists are also trying to use Crispr against HIV.
And Excision BioTherapeutics says that after 48 weeks, three volunteers with HIV had no serious side effects.
But Dr Jonathan Stoye, a virus expert at the Francis Crick Institute in London, said removing HIV from all the cells that could harbor it in the body is “extremely difficult”.
“Off-target treatment effects with possible long-term side effects remain a concern,” he said.
“Therefore, it seems likely that it will be many years before such a Crispr-based therapy becomes routine – even assuming it can be shown to be effective.”
HIV infects and attacks immune system cells, using their own machinery to make copies of itself.
Even with effective treatment, some of them go into a dormant or dormant state – so they still contain HIV DNA or genetic material, even if they are not actively producing new viruses.
Most people with HIV need lifelong antiretroviral therapy. If they stop taking these drugs, the latent virus can reawaken and cause problems again.
A rare number of people were apparently “cured”, after aggressive cancer treatment has eliminated some of the infected cells, but this would never be recommended to treat HIV alone.
