French scientists have reported finding a
genetic mechanism by which they believe
two men were spontaneously cured of HIV,
a breakthrough that could lead to a new
approach in the fight against AIDS.
Scientists at Institute of Health and
Medical Research in Paris tested 1 ,700
people diagnosed as HIV -positive , then
focused their research on two men.
One was diagnosed HIV- positive in 1985,
but never suffered any illness linked to
the HIV infection , despite being
continuously exposed to the virus through
syringes he shared with his HIV- positive
wife.
The other man was diagnose HIV -positive
in 2011, but has never been ill and the
virus cannot now be detected with routine
blood tests .
"HIV from the two studied patients was
inactivated by interruptions in their
genes," said researcher Philippe Colson.
"HIV is still present but is no more able to
replicate."
The scientists believe the virus was
deactivated by the combined effect of a
common enzyme and a viral protein,
resulting in spontaneous changes to the
men's DNA .
Despite still being HIV -positive , the
genetic changes gave the men protection
from the virus.
The researchers said genetic changes of
this nature are not unusual in both humans
and other mammals, especially when
provoked by a retrovirus like HIV.
"We believe that the persistence of HIV
DNA can lead to cure , and protection from
HIV," Colson and co-author Didier Raoult
wrote in the journal Clinical Microbiology
and Infection.
Purging HIV DNA
The team believe the same response could
be induced in other HIV -positive patients .
"Strategies to imitate the phenomenon
observed in these patients may be
implemented," said Colson .
If successful , the approach would be very
different from most other efforts to cure
people of the virus . These aim to purge all
the HIV DNA from the cells of patients ,
rather than finding a way to deactivate
them.
"Previous and current researches are
important. We hypothesise that there may
be another way, " says Colson.
But turning their findings into an
effective treatment will take years , and is
by no means assured .
"Ultimately this is an observation ," said Dr
Rowena Johnston , Director of Research at
amfAR, the Foundation for AIDS Research .
"And it' s always difficult to turn an
observation into an intervention ."
The researchers said they intend to study
similar patients , in an effort to confirm
and better understand the extent of the
phenomenon.
"There is potential for these kinds of
cases to inform our efforts to cure HIV ,"
said Johnston .
"But it 's a challenge that researchers all
over the world have been working on for a
long time , without any one answer seeming
to characterise all those cases , let alone
any ideas on how to make this a reality for
35 million people living with HIV ."
Source: http://m.aljazeera.com/story/2014117131249495393
More: http://www.google.com/m?q=French+scientists+report+finding+a+genetic+mechanism+by+which+they+believe+two+men+were+spontaneously+cured+of+HIV&client=ms-opera-mini-android&channel=new

So its still an observation..




Them havent verified it self..
I was even thinking tha̶̲̥̅̊t they've gotten cure

We will get there one day. I comot my cap for scientists. They are engineers elder brother in technology pyramid.
Scientist leading by example since the time of Imphotep.

Seun, OAM4J, maclatunji, Ikenna351,
Afam4eva, Ngwakwe, mynd44
Frontpage material...

Wenever I read breakthrough like this, I jus feel am wasting in Nigeria. I love research and development.

promising.

KIV. . .

Breakthrough from this HIV will be a huge success