HIV scientists rn

A 66-year-old man from Los Angeles appears to be the fourth person ever officially cured of HIV, per new peer-reviewed research first made public yesterday.

🧪🥼 A deeper dive: The man had undergone a bone marrow transplant in March 2021 related to his leukemia, for which people with HIV are at increased risk. The transplant contained stem cells with a rare genetic mutation that blocks HIV infection.

• Unlike many people who have HIV but stay healthy by keeping the virus at low levels using drugs, doctors said this man showed zero detectable signs of the virus in his body after extensive testing.
• He’s the second person to be announced as cured this year, following researchers in February revealing the case of a New York woman with the disease who went into remission.

🤔 Does this mean we’ve found a cure?... Short answer: maybe. According to a doctor at the hospital where the LA man had the transplant, his operation is “a complex procedure with significant potential side effects. So, it's not really a suitable option for most people living with HIV."

• But researchers said they’re looking at other ways of targeting the HIV-resistant gene that led to his cure, which could result in future treatments for the 37.7 million people around the world currently living with the virus.