Researchers Have Successfully Figured Out How To Edit HIV Out Of T Cells
This is huge.
Researchers at Temple University in Philadelphia say they have found a safe way to eliminate the HIV-1 virus from CD4+ T cells through a gene editing system.
“The findings are important on multiple levels,” Kamel Khalili, professor and chair of the Department of Neuroscience at Temple, says in a statement. “They demonstrate the effectiveness of our gene editing system in eliminating HIV from the DNA of CD4+ T-cells and, by introducing mutations into the viral genome, permanently inactivate viral replication.”
“Further,” Khalili continued, “they show that the system can protect cells from reinfections and that the technology is safe for the cells, with no toxic effects.”
The findings were published in Scientific Reports earlier this week and mark the first time researchers at Temple have actually been able to remove HIV from an infected T cell, opening the door for even more in-depth research.
“The questions they address are critical, and the results allow us to move ahead with this technology,” Khalili said.
In a press release, Dr. Thomas Malcolm, CEO and President of Excision Biotherapeutics, which holds the exclusive rights to commercialize the gene editing technology, said: “This is a major advance in safety and efficacy for the use of CRIPSR/Cas9 gRNA HIV eradication for us in humans. These exciting results also reflect our ability to select viral gene targets for safe eradication of any viral genome in our current pipeline of gene editing therapeutics.”
Gene editing has long been thought of as a potential cure for HIV, but scientists have feared that if not done properly, the side effects could be disastrous, even fatal. Researchers at Temple believe they have overcome this hurdle, but they are careful to note that challenges remain.
“First, it will be important to maximize elimination of viral sequences from patients,” the authors state. “This will require analysis of the HIV-1 quasi-species harbored by patients’ CD4+ T-cells and design of suitable, i.e. personalized CRISPRs. Second, improved delivery of CRISPR/Cas9 will be required to target the majority of circulating T-cells.”
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15 Comments
shuga chocolata
March 26, 09:57better much updates…..
Max 3.0 Virtuoso
March 26, 10:24That’s good news. Yay!!
While “REAL” humans are out there busy fighting for the betterment of our specie, the “ANIMALS” we have back here are busy denying basic human Rights to its citizens.
Pink Panther
March 26, 10:28What’s the much you’re doing, pray tell? In all your glory as a real human properly distinguished from the animals.
Max 3.0 Virtuoso
March 26, 11:26Trying to stop people like you and your league of MGMs and impending MGMs who put up a false persona here from deceiving young and unsuspecting Nigerian gay men.
Trying to make sure gay men in Nigeria are seen in a good light & also helping the younger ones understand what it means to be gay, while you’re busy promoting reckless and dangerous lifestyle while apply your broken neutral moral compass rule.
Living and staying true to myself so that I could be an inspiration to others. Don’t you think your life would’ve been better if you had a gay role model to look up to?
Your habit of joining in a bandwagon and fighting other ppls battle for them is quite unbecoming of you, I could smell the poo on your face already from all the ass licking you’ve been doing.
Continue and hopefully we’ll all be alive to see where it’ll lead.
Mitch
March 26, 12:36Inspiration to others?
Sweetheart, quit deluding yourself. You may have some great qualities but honey, this bad character of yours is like a burst tyre. You ain’t going nowhere close to being an inspiration with that. And what’s worse is, if I wanted an inspiration to be bad, I’d chose Chizzie as my mentor because whereas Chizzie’s bile comes across as natural, yours seems forced, fake and reeks of an instability that puts you in the light of a sociopath or worse still, a psycho.
Pink Panther
March 26, 13:01He calls himself an inspiration. Mitch, wait for it, someone here on KD might actually come out to admit that Max has inspired him. Just hold on. Wait for it.
*while crickets are chirping*
Pink Panther
March 26, 12:59Wow! You are truly an epitome of grand delusions, my friend. But hey, keep at it. If you believe it hard enough, maybe it might actually begin to be the truth that everyone else might actually see. Keep deluding yourself. Don’t let anyone stop you, you hear?
Mandy
March 26, 13:26An inspiration to others? You Max? Others being the LGBT community? You who last week didn’t even know who Transgenders and denounced those of them who are Nigerians? You an inspiration?
Lol.
You’re a joke.
Tiercel de Claron
March 26, 15:00S’neck up,Max
You’d be doing us all a favour
Mitch
March 26, 10:26This is great news! Now let’s hope it gets perfected quickly and the WHO takes it up to help HIV positive folks.
Kenny
March 26, 13:42This piece talked about hiv-1, does it mean it’s not a solution for those with the hiv-2 virus?
Pink Panther
March 26, 13:52I’m sure they’ll enlighten the international community with the more findings they arrive at.
Kenny
March 26, 13:57Ok
Francis
March 26, 14:13Hmmmmmmmmmmm. See as post on HIV don degenerate into something else.
Kester
March 26, 16:36No mind max and his wahala, sometimes I wish he could just start his own blog and leave us terminally flawed folks alone, it’s amazing how an atheist deifies himself.
More importantly I am glad at the progress made concerning eradication of the virus, they should kukuma research HPV and hepatitis B and C