4 ms·
What makes HIV hard to eliminate is that it persists in bone marrow. What's happening in these transplants, in cancer patients who also have HIV, is that the p
by rst 4y ago
What makes HIV hard to eliminate is that it persists in bone marrow. What's happening in these transplants, in cancer patients who also have HIV, is that the patient's original bone marrow (having become cancerous) is killed off and completely replaced, taking the HIV with it. And killing off the original bone marrow is the nastiest part of the procedure by far (source: my uncle went through it) -- but that's what gets rid of the HIV. Anything that replicates that effect would be an alternative transplant process, not an alternative to one.
- hn_throwaway_99 4y ago> What's happening in these transplants, in cancer patients who also have HIV, is that the patient's original bone marrow (having become cancerous) is killed off and completely replaced, taking the HIV with it. That's not accurate. If that were the case, then ANY bone marrow transplant could potentially cure an HIV patient. What's happening is that bone marrow is what generates white blood cells, and the donor in this case was naturally resistant to HIV due to the CCR5 delta 32 mutation. This results in white blood cells that HIV can no longer easily enter. So what's happening is ALL of the patient's white blood cells are being replaced (rather, generated by this new donor marrow) with ones that are resistant to HIV.
- theplumber 4y agoWhat stops us from inducing a CCR5 delta 32 mutation in hiv infected people?
- mrguyorama 4y agoWhat process do we have to reliably mutate every single cell of certain types in bone marrow, with only a desired mutation and no other?
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- woadwarrior01 4y agoDNA Vaccines?
- krageon 4y agoWe don't have a process to do what is described.
- Teever 4y agoa modified HIV vector?
- cuteboy19 4y agoEven if a small amount of unmutated cells remain that still means that the person is cured of HIV right? Though they may still be infectious
- rst 4y agoThanks for the correction.