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Scientists have found a new way to force the HIV virus out of hiding inside human cells, which could reportedly bring us marginally closer to finding a cure.
According to a report by The Guardian, it seems a major breakthrough in HIV research could bring us closer to a cure.
One of the biggest obstacles in treating and researching HIV is the virus’s ability to ‘hide’ inside white blood cells. This means that even if a person is treated successfully, their body may still carry the disease and it could be reactivated at any time.
Due to the HIV being hidden, the immune system and drugs are unable to effectively reach it, making it impossible to know whether a person has fully gotten rid of the virus.
However, research from the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity in Melbourne has reportedly demonstrated a new method to bring the virus out into the open, making it completely visible. With HIV unable to hide, it could mean that we will eventually be able to clear it from the body entirely.
This latest development is based on mRNA technology, which entered the mainstream during the pandemic, as both Moderna and Pfizer both used it to develop effective vaccines.
mRNA is delivered into the cells where HIV is hiding via a crafted bubble of fat. This instructs the cells to reveal the virus.
Treatment for HIV has come a very long way in the past few decades, making it a much more treatable condition for those who live with it. It affects up to 40 million people globally today, and requires medication on a life-long basis in order to control and suppress it.
In spite of our progress, the virus remains a key health problem around the world, with one person dying every minute of HIV in 2023. A full-blown cure would be a huge achievement and could save hundreds of thousands of lives.
Those involved in this new development have said they are feeling ‘overwhelmed’ with their success. Speaking to The Guardian, co-first author of the study Dr Paula Cevaal described the first test results as seeming ‘too good to be true.’
‘We sent [my colleague] back to the lab to repeat it, and she came back the next week with results that were equally as good. Since then, we’ve repeated it many, many, many more times.’
So, what happens next? More work needs to be done to establish whether the virus being revealed within the body is enough to allow the immune system to squash it. If it isn’t, then further therapies will need to be combined with the mRNA-based treatment to fully flush HIV out.
