HIV & The Future...

 

The field of HIV research is decades old & huge steps have been made in the fight against the virus.  However, we haven't found a cure.  We're back to admitting prevention is currently our best option.  While there have been advancements in treatment, there's still no silver bullet. 

Some are admitting the difficulty of this pursuit & altering course.  Alongside long acting treatment & PrEP that can greatly limit transmission, researchers are looking at options not found in pill bottles.  Some are researching the areas of gene therapy and broadly neutralizing antibodies.  

I've discussed these topics before.  It's a shift from a wide net approach meant for the masses to a personalized effort for individuals.  This could be the path forward, but it's still early days on this matter.

That's all for now, take care.

C=ya...

 

Problematic Pieces...

 

The article I found this morning is a bit troublesome.  The title is, "Gene Therapy Can Effectively Eliminate HIV Infection."   The article covers the same info I did for a recent post.  It discussed deactivating the CCR5 mutation & snipping the virus from the cell.  The concept CRISPR has been around a bit.  The method has been studied for a while, still it isn't a proven strategy.  Thus far, it's been used in humanized mice.

Even though the title infers there's a cure for HIV via gene therapy, there isn't at this time.   Maybe this can be made to work in mice 100% of the time.  That doesn't mean it will automatically translate to any other animals or humans. 

Still the title remains & many people will read that & think they can be cured tomorrow.  Articles like this can do far more harm than they will inform of future possibilities.  Before you write, know your audience.  Albeit there was some serious jargon in this article, it was written to lean towards lay people, not medical professionals.  Even though the title is technically accurate, it's click bait & a false promise.  This type of writing is misleading, harmful & quite frankly disgusting.

Cya...

Another CRISPR ...

 

This article is a bit wordy, but worth it.  It's about reasearch using a dual CRISPR approach to cure humanized mice of HIV.   Some points;  this is research, CRISPR is gene editing, humanized mice carry human genes, cells or tissues.  

While on a long acting HIV medication, this dual approach would directly attack & remove HIV from infected cells.  Then it would inactivate the CCR5 mutations in these cells.  This similar to what happens to humans who have been cured via transplant.

This is still in the research phase & these are mice, even if humanized.  Even if this does work, they will have to ensure to impact every aspect in the body.  If not, the dormant HIV would eventually return.

This may sound like the rantings of a mad scientist in a horror movie, but the science is grounded.  Despite the mixed species aprroach, this may lead to a possible cure not involving some one getting a bone marrow transplant to treat leukemia. 

Something to keep an eye on.  Take cae.

Cya...

Yeah, Really...

This article reports American Gene Technology  has developed a developed a potential cure for HIV.  Going by the company name, I'm assuming it's a genetic application.  None of the articles offered much.  The company is supposed to be filing with the FDA for approval to start testing.   

Sorry, for so little info, but the articles were blips.  Is this real?  Will it work?  I don't know.  Even if it does, it's years out.  It doesn't look like the FDA's part has even started yet.  So, don't hold your breath on this.

Cya...

Next Up To Bat...

This article is about a new attempt to implement research trying to cure HIV.   This is Sangamo  Bioscience's baby.  Its using stem cells developed from people naturally more resistant to HIV in hopes of editing infected people's immunity to better deal with HIV.   

The article is a little dense, so give a read for more info.    I've talked about gene editing before.  Its still in the early stages. Whether or not this will pan out it still up in the air.  If it does work, it could mean a new line of treatment for HIV & possibly other illnesses. 

Time will tell.

Cya....

Genes...

This blip of an article discusses some recent research into a gene that could be used to control HIV.  The article is very brief.  The research is in it's early stages.  But this gene seems to affect some level of anti-viral properties in the body.    This MX2 gene appears capable of preventing HIV from replicating copies of itself.  Therefore, it can't spread in the body.

The research is just underway.  They aren't sure if this will be a gene therapy or lead to a new medication.  It's something to keep an eye on though.

Cya...