Temple University may have found a cure for HIV and AIDS by means of gene-snipping. Using a DNA enzyme CaS9, the virus that deeply embeds itself beyond cellular level will be taken out of the infected body.
This discovery may be considered as a breakthrough in the field of medicine since there is still no present cure available for the said virus. It has been impossible to treat because it mutates and hides among the healthy cells. But with the new technique, deleting HIV from a DNA is now possible.
“The HIV-1 virus has proved to be tenacious, inserting its genome permanently into its victims’ DNA, forcing patients to take a lifelong drug regimen to control the virus and prevent a fresh attack,” stated by Temple University as reported by Crossmap.
A research conducted in 2014 gives hope to scientists especially to the people infected by HIV that a treatment will be developed that will save many lives. The president of the Department of Neuroscience at Temple University Dr. Kamel Khalil has revealed some details about how to eliminate HIV-1 from the DNA.
“The researchers must devise a method to deliver the therapeutic agent to every single infected cell. Finally, because HIV-1 is prone to mutations, treatment may need to be individualized for each patient’s unique viral sequences.
We are working on a number of strategies so we can take the construct into preclinical studies. We want to eradicate every single copy of HIV-1 from the patient. That will cure AIDS. I think this technology is the way we can do it,” Dr. Khalili stated.
However, the researchers earlier stated that they are not yet ready to proceed to clinical trials. Thorough studies must be conducted first to determine the effectiveness of the said strategy. The scientists are excited about the discovery but many things are needed to be considered first.