HIV

A 53-year-old from Düsseldorf in Germany has followed the "Berlin" and "London" patients, becoming the third person in the world to be completely cured of HIV following a stem cell transplant using donor cells with a particular genetic mutation.

In a blow to researchers across the world, the only HIV vaccine currently in Phase 3 human trials has been deemed a failure. The experimental vaccine's failure turns the current research focus onto several other candidates only in early-stage human trials.

HIV is hard to kill as it hides out in cellular reservoirs, but a growing body of work shows that a cure might be possible. In a new study, improvements to a previous “kick and kill” technique completely cleared HIV in 40 percent of treated mice.

HIV can currently be managed with a lifelong daily drug regimen, but unfortunately the infection can’t be eliminated entirely. Now researchers may have found a way to trip a cellular “alarm” to alert the immune system to clear out infected cells.

HIV is an insidious virus, hibernating inside cells ready to re-emerge if treatment is stopped. Now a team of researchers has found a way to shrink that viral reservoir by adapting a cancer immunotherapy technique to supercharge immune cells in mice.

A trial testing a drug designed to prevent HIV infection has been cut short due to a combination of positive early data and disruptions caused by COVID-19. The analysis found a single injection every eight weeks offers protection from HIV infection.

Viruses are difficult to kill – most of the drugs and chemicals that do are also harmful to human health. But now, scientists have developed a new virucidal substance derived from sugar, making it deadly to a wide range of viruses but safe for us.

In lab tests, researchers have identified a cellular “switch” that could be turned off to clear out HIV lying dormant inside cells.

The 2019 Beazley Designs of the Year shortlist features a flying car, an expandable building, and a HIV test for developing countries.

There exists a group of HIV-positive people who have a rare ability to naturally control the HIV infection. Now, after years of research, a team of scientists from the Institut Pasteur in Paris, has successfully reprogrammed cells that lack this ability, giving them the same, antiviral potency.

A permanent cure for HIV has remained elusive. But scientists have now made a significant breakthrough in this area, using the CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing tool to entirely remove the virus from the genomes of living animals for the first time ever. ​

Scientists report the “functional cure” of an HIV patient for only the second time ever. Known only as “the London patient”, the man received a transplant of bone marrow stem cells from a donor that had a resistance to the virus. The patient has now been in remission for 18 months.