Working like scissors, but at the molecular
level, it cuts DNA so "bad" bits can be removed or inactivated.The
hope is to ultimately be able to rid the body entirely of the virus, although
much more work is needed to check it would be safe and effective.Existing HIV
medicines can stop the virus but not eliminate it.
The University of Amsterdam team, presenting
a synopsis, or abstract, of their early findings at a medical conference this week, stress their work remains
merely "proof of concept" and will not become a cure for HIV any time
soon.
And Dr James Dixon, stem-cell and
gene-therapy technologies associate professor at the University of Nottingham,
agrees, saying the full findings still require scrutiny.
"Much more work will be needed to
demonstrate results in these cell assays can happen in an entire body for a
future therapy," he said.
"There will be much more development needed before this could have
impact on those with HIV."
Other scientists are also trying to use Crispr against HIV.
Excision BioTherapeutics says after 48
weeks, three volunteers with HIV have no serious side effects.But Dr Jonathan Stoye, a virus
expert at the Francis Crick Institute, in London, said removing HIV from all
the cells that might harbour it in the body was "extremely
challenging".
"Off-target effects of the treatment,
with possible long-term side effects, remain a concern," he said.
"It therefore seems likely that many
years will elapse before any such Crispr-based therapy becomes routine - even
assuming that it can be shown to be effective."HIV infects and attacks
immune-system cells, using their own machinery to make copies of itself.
Even with effective treatment, some go into a resting, or latent, state
- so they still contain the DNA, or genetic material, of HIV, even if not
actively producing new virus.
Most people with HIV need life-long antiretroviral therapy. If they stop taking these drugs, the dormant virus can reawaken and cause problems again.A rare few have been apparently "cured", after aggressive cancer therapy wiped out some of their infected cells, but this would never be recommended purely to treat HIV.
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