There has been a major breakthrough in the fight against HIV as researchers at the Temple University say there could be a cure within the next decade.
It is understood top scientists at the University are on the cusp of developing a revolutionary cure after thy successfully managed to remove HIV from human immune cells.
The detailed study which has seen top medical minds conduct hours of research has resulted in significant development after they managed to use gene editing to remove HIV from mice.
It is thought the breakthrough came after leading resarchers created a “humanized” model in which human cells were transplanted into mice and then infected with HIV, they then used gene editing technology to remove HIV DNA from the mice.
Speaking about the latest research Dr Kamel Khalili, chair of Neuroscience at Temple University said: “Once HIV infects human cells, its genome incorporates in the whole cells, “And that’s a major problem for the treatments of the HIV-infected individuals.”
“The current therapy that’s in the clinic is surpressing virus replication but it doesn’t eliminate.”
The leading neuroscientist also said researchers have learned a lot about the virus in past 30 years, saying: “Unfortunately we have been unable to eliminate the virus and there is obviously no reliable and good vaccine for the prevention of the infection.”
However Dr Khalili remains optimistic and expects good news in the future and he is hopeful a cure for AIDS will be discovered within the next 10 years.
It is expected the research team will continue their research and they expect to trial their new gene therapy on primates in the near future.