Scientists Successfully Removed HIV From Human Immune Cells Using Advanced Gene-Editing Method

"The findings are important on multiple levels."

From: NewNowNext

Researchers at Temple University might have just unlocked the key to extracting HIV out of human immune cell DNA using the advanced CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing method.

This method was first introduced into the scientific world in 2012 and has since gained traction as a serious means by which to treat the root causes of genetic disease. Essentially, the technique allows scientists to zero in on a specific gene and edit its DNA to change its function.

This is achieved by first forcing a bacterium (CRISPR) to interact with viral DNA. When the bacteria encounters the DNA, it makes an identical strand of the virus, called the guide RNA. This guide RNA then latches onto a protein (Cas9) and together they go search for other viral strands. When they find them, the protein effectively cuts up the infected DNA, destroying it completely.

Earlier this year, scientists in the US used the method to treat a disease (Duchenne muscular dystrophy) in a fully developed living mammal (adult mouse) for the first time. Based on this outcome, scientists at Temple University decided to try it out on eliminating HIV-1 DNA from T cells in a human lab culture.

The experiment was a great success as scientists were able to fully eradicate the virus from the T cells. Though technology like this has been used before in combating HIV, what makes this particular trial so promising is that once the cells were later exposed to the virus, they were protected from reinfection.

“The findings are important on multiple levels,” says lead researcher Kamel Khalili. “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 inactivating its replication.”

While jumping from human cells in a petri dish to cells in an actual living human body will prove difficult for scientists moving forward, this trial marks an important step toward advanced HIV treatment and prevention.