"We will treat HIV as a genetic disease," report scientists who have succeeded in curing mice with a new method
1959 - First patient diagnosed with HIV. 1966 - The virus arrives in the US. 1969 - Robert Rayford dies of a mysterious illness. Researchers later discover he was HIV positive. 1977 - The first texts about the disease affecting gay men are published. That same year, a San Francisco prostitute gives birth to the first of her three children, who are gradually destined to die due to complications with their mother's AIDS. 1980 - Ken Horne is the first American to be officially diagnosed with what is later named AIDS. 1982 - The crisis begins.
The future of HIV treatment - LASER ART?
Although the various researches that are presented in the media as groundbreaking are countless in relation to HIV/AIDS, the fact is that a new treatment modality referred to as LASER ART could indeed be a possible avenue for at least further research. The study, the results of which were published this Tuesday, presents the results of combining genome-editing technology with virus-suppressing drugs, with the result being the actual elimination of HIV cells from the blood of some infected mice. Current treatments (called antiretroviral therapy, ART) cannot completely eliminate the virus, but only suppress its replication. It also requires continuous (and therefore lifelong) use of drugs, but thanks to nowadays very advanced scientific methods, it can reduce the viral load to practically zero, thus at least minimising the risk of infection, e.g. between sexual partners.
However, LASER ART could in principle revolutionise HIV treatment. Using a group of humanized mice (i.e. mice genetically engineered to produce human T-cells that are sensitive to HIV), scientists have tested the application of "slow-motion" antiretroviral therapy to suppress HIV cells from replicating. So they modified common HIV drugs so that they are released into the body gradually over a period of weeks, targeting in particular tissues in the spleen, bone marrow and brain, where latent HIV foci or inactive clusters of HIV cells are also most likely to be found. Finally, the CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing tool was also used.
1983 - French scientists isolated HIV and found it to be the cause of AIDS. American scientists came to the same conclusion a year later. 1985 - President Ronald Reagan finally talks about HIV. 1986 - The U.S. government allocates $100 million to develop a cure for AIDS. 1987 - ACT-UP is founded. 1991 - Elizabeth Taylor establishes her own AIDS Foundation, which also inspired Elton John, who continues to run his foundation, which focuses on HIV/AIDS research and treatment today.
"The whole process allowed us to clean up segments of the genome and remove the HIV chromosome," study co-author Kamel Khalili said in an interview with the CNN news site. Khalili then added to the whole procedure that it de facto treats HIV as a genetic disease - because once the virus infects a subject, the viral genome enters the chromosome and becomes a bad gene. So it is the combination of LASER ART and CRISP that is supposedly a good way to "attack" the virus from two sides (and at different stages).
Although only nine mice out of 23 were able to completely eliminate the virus from their bodies, the researchers are particularly excited about the fact that HIV can apparently actually be eliminated from the body. And this is without having to undergo invasive cancer-based treatment - this has happened in a pair of HIV-positive cases, referred to as the London and Berlin patients, and the virus has indeed been suppressed in their bodies because of a bone marrow transplant. So now further tests on primates will follow and should be implemented within a year. If the procedure proves effective, clinical trials could begin as early as next summer, Khalili also said.
1995 - Scientists discovered the HIV virus in a 1959 blood sample, which was also evidence that the virus was spreading before the AIDS epidemic began. 1997 - AIDS deaths in the U.S. dropped by more than 40% thanks to highly effective antiretroviral treatment. Around 30 million HIV-positive people live worldwide. 2005 - The first guidelines for the use of post-exposure prophylaxis appear. 2008 - The first person is "cured" of HIV, referred to as the Berlin Patient. 2012 - Preventive treatment, PrEP, is expanded.
2013 - 78 million people have contracted the virus since the beginning of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. 39 million people have died from AIDS.
2017 - Scientists announce major advances in possible treatments, including the ability to target the virus and "kill" it in its reservoirs. This is the CRISP gene editing technique, which is to be further tested.
2019 - HIV can be treated as a genetic disease, according to further research related to the CRIPS technique. The method has worked in mice...
2020?
