Research team finally eliminated HIV in infected cells, could there be a cure? – Teach me about Science

The hiv, Human immunodeficiency virus, is a disease that for years has deeply marked the history of medicine and public health worldwide. Since its discovery in the 1970s 1980, he HIV has been one of the biggest challenges for the medical science current due to its unique ability to weaken the immune system of the human beingleaving it vulnerable to various infections and opportunistic diseases.

How is it transmitted?

He HIV It is mainly transmitted through fluids corporal such as blood, semen, vaginal secretions and breast milk. The main routes of transmission include unprotected sexual relations, sharing contaminated needles and syringes, and from mother to child. During pregnancy, birth or lactation. Despite advances in prevention and treatment, HIV remains a global public health problemaffecting millions of people around the world world.

What happens to a person who becomes infected with HIV?

Once a person is infected with HIV, he virus begins to replicate within the cells of the immune systemespecially the CD4+ T lymphocytes. Over time, this continued viral replication leads to a progressive decline in CD4+ levels, thus weakening the body's ability to fight infections and diseases. Without treatment, this progression leads to the syndrome acquired immunodeficiency (AIDS), an advanced stage of the disease characterized by the presence of infections opportunists y certain types of cancer.

Scientists manage to eliminate HIV from cells

In this context, the recent news about the Scientific advances on the research of HIV has made May people be filled with hope. A group of European scientists has used an innovative gene editing technique known as “Crispr-Cas” to eliminate HIV from infected cells at the laboratory. This technique are like molecular scissors that can cut specific segments of DNA, allowing unwanted genes to be removed, including those contaminated with HIV.

The research, led by the scientist Elena Herrera-Carrillo of the Amsterdam University Medical Center, has demonstrated the effectiveness of this technique to deactivate the infective capacity of HIV in cells. By targeting specific segments of DNA, scientists can cutting and modifying genetic materialwhich facilitates future personalized therapies and more precise treatments.

Although these results are promising, it is important to be cautious and maintain a realistic perspective. The investigation It is in an early stage and has been carried out in an environment of laboratoryso it is still necessary to perform further studies and clinical trials to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of this technique in real patients.

Advances in technique Crispr-Cas, which was recognized with the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2020represent a revolutionary approach to addressing genetic diseases and, potentially, infectious diseases such as HIV. However, the path to developing a cure Definition for HIV remains long and complex.

Although there is still much work to do, these results are a significant step toward developing more effective treatments and, eventually, a cure for HIV. It is crucial to continue supporting and financing research scientific in this field to continue advancing in the resolution of problems that all of humanity has always wanted to solve.

It should be noted that this note was a statement issued by la European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ECCMID 2024, Barcelona, Spain, 27-30 April)