4 ms·
This is quite interesting. There is a certain very small percentage of the world's population that is immune to the HIV virus. These people's T-cells have the C
by rm2889 8y ago
This is quite interesting. There is a certain very small percentage of the world's population that is immune to the HIV virus. These people's T-cells have the CD4 receptor, but not the CCR5 receptor. The HIV virus needs both these receptors to successfully affect the host's cells. The absence of the CCR5 receptor still allows the person's T cells to function normally, so if this works, it can pave the way to creating offspring who are immune to HIV
- hanniabu 8y agoDoes CCR5 have no other purpose? Hard to believe that it'd exist if it wasn't needed.
- discodave 8y agoNot really. There are lots of vestigial things in humans that are no longer needed. Tailbones, for instance.
- skosuri 8y agohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CCR5#Potential_costs https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CCR5#Potential_costs
- joshvm 8y agoApparently removing it may have other consequences: > Even if editing worked perfectly, people without normal CCR5 genes face higher risks of getting certain other viruses, such as West Nile, and of dying from the flu. Since there are many ways to prevent HIV infection and it's very treatable if it occurs, those other medical risks are a concern, Musunuru said.
- sanxiyn 8y agoThere are literally millions of healthy people without CCR5 receptors. (Millions is approximately 0.01% of world population and this mutation's frequency is certainly greater than that.)
- glenneroo 8y agoWhat about possible dependencies which are also missing or required in those healthy people? That is, if you remove CCR5, are there other components which should be removed/replaced/inserted to enable the anti-HIV functionality? I would venture to guess that nobody really knows... yet.