SEVENTH PATIENT ‘CURED' OF HIV: WHY SCIENTISTS ARE EXCITED

Summary from the TLDR newsletter

A 60-year-old man in Germany is the seventh person with HIV to be announced free of the virus after receiving a stem-cell transplant. The patient received stem cells which only had one copy of a gene that has been suggested as the best target for an HIV cure. The findings widen the donor pool for stem-cell transplants - roughly 1% of people of European descent carry mutations in both copies of the gene, while 10% of people carry one mutated copy. The procedure, which is risky and offered to people with leukemia, is unlikely to be rolled out for most individuals with HIV.