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Medicine Science

CRISPR Gene-Editing May Offer Path To Cure For HIV, First Published Report Shows (npr.org) 32

An anonymous reader quotes a report from NPR: Chinese scientists have published the first report in a scientific journal of an attempt to use CRISPR-edited cells in a patient -- a 27-year-old man who is HIV-positive. While the treatment did not rid the man of the AIDS virus, the researchers and others are calling the report promising. That's because it indicates that so far the gene-editing technique seems to safely and effectively make the precise DNA change intended. The case was published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

In the new report, the researchers attempted to use CRISPR to recreate the experiences of two men known as the Berlin patient and the London patient. In those cases, HIV-positive men were declared effectively cured after they received stem cell transplants from people born with variations of a gene known as CCR5 that makes people naturally resistant to HIV. The variation disables a molecular gateway HIV uses to enter and destroy key immune system cells. In the new case, [Hongkui Deng, a professor of cell biology at the Peking University] and his colleagues used CRISPR to edit the CCR5 gene on stem cells to recreate the naturally occurring protection against HIV. They then used the edited cells to perform a stem cell transplant for the patient. The man also had acute lymphoblastic leukemia, a form of blood cancer. The transplant appears to have put the patient's leukemia into remission, the researchers reported. He suffered no apparent adverse side effects from the gene-edited cells, which have persisted in his body for more than 19 months, according to the report.
"The approach did not reduce levels of HIV in the man's body because only about 5% of his white blood cells carried the edited CCR5 variation," the report adds. "So Deng says his team plans to focus on finding ways to boost that closer to 100%, which is what would be needed to eradicate the virus."

Regardless, the findings are important positive outcomes that suggest the approach is safe and could work.
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CRISPR Gene-Editing May Offer Path To Cure For HIV, First Published Report Shows

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  • RNA viri are very elusive, maybe that would enough for a Grant?
    • Vira. Please. Unless you want to tell us that the RNA of a virus is elusive, in which case you used the wrong form of "to be".

      Yes, it's O-declination, yes, that usually has -i in nominative plural but this is one of the two exceptions. The other one is vulgus.

      • I use the source Wiktionary; google it.
    • That is a treatment, not a cure. HIV embeds itself into the nuclear DNA of cells, where it them can go dormant and undetected by the body's immune system. Any cure will involve eradicating all infected cells or replacing the immune system entirely with one that is immune to HIV. The article you linked is a potential new antiviral, which would have the same effect as current antivirals, with MAYBE fewer side effects, but we have to wait to see how it does in clinical trials IN HUMANS. So, for now, keep using
      • HIV embeds itself into the nuclear DNA of cells, where it them can go dormant and undetected by the body's immune system. Any cure will involve eradicating all infected cells {...}

        Which by the way, is the "reason" evolution came up with CRISPR in the first place: bacteria use it to edit out phage that have attempted to embed themselves in the batceria's chromosome.
        So using it to try editting out retroviruses that have attempted to embed themselves into white blood cells' DNA is using CRISPR exactly as Mother Nature "intended" it in the first place.

  • by DrYak ( 748999 ) on Friday September 13, 2019 @06:26AM (#59189890) Homepage

    Given that prokaryote evolution "came up" with CRISPR-Cas as a solution to remove phages that try to embed themselves into the bacteria's chromosome,
    it's "using as Mother Nature 'intended' it" to recycle the same system to try to remove retroviruses that try to embed themselves into our white blood cells' DNA.

    (As opposed to all the other batshit insane weird uses (gene editing, much more advanced library stuff, etc.) that we've came up once we discovered CRISPR's properties).

    • by ceoyoyo ( 59147 )

      Except that's not what they're using it for. CRISPR is used to edit the HIV-resistant CCR5 mutation into the patient's harvested stem cells, which are then transplanted to reconstitute their immune system.

    • This CRISPR shit is crazy, it seemingly came out of nowhere and in such a short period has shown so much promise in so many areas. I honestly believe that if we kept the wheels on the bus and there are no nuclear wars or massive regression, my kids or their kids could live to be 200 years old.
  • I don't understand what's wrong with the traditional way. You start again with a single cell and make new copies of yourself with modifications to create a new version with the new DNA in every cell and then proceed to expire in depreciated mode.
  • by Nidi62 ( 1525137 ) on Friday September 13, 2019 @07:01AM (#59189964)

    Seems to me the bigger deal at this point is that by editing only 5% of the patients white blood cells they put his leukemia into remission.

    According to wikipedia acute lymphoblastic leukemia is the leading form of childhood cancer and childhood cancer deaths in the US. While it can be cured (and survival rates for children is at 90%, with babies 50% and adults 35%) the treatment of choice is chemo which everyone knows is a miserable experience. Personally I would take CRISPR over chemo any day.

    • by ceoyoyo ( 59147 )

      The NEJM web site seems to be down at the moment and the article doesn't give specifics, but usually the treatment goes like this:

      1) Low dose chemo drives stem cells into the blood, and they're harvested.

      2) Essentially a lethal dose of chemo wipes out the immune system

      3) Harvested cells are transplanted, reconstituting the immune system. In this case those cells are edited to also be HIV resistant.

      The process isn't nice, and has a significant risk (around 5% mortality usually) because of step 2.

  • I predict in a few short years, gene editing will be reasonably cheap and ubiquitous. First non-medical use will be people editing their skin to have patterns, glow in the dark, random unnatural colors, and do funny things to their hair, extend finger nails to claws, teeth to fangs, etc.
  • by argStyopa ( 232550 ) on Friday September 13, 2019 @10:04AM (#59190592) Journal

    I know some people will get mad at this, but the explosion of HIV/AIDs in the US was mostly a result of casual sex between men.

    Even when HIV/AIDs was a death sentence (now it's more of an economic life-sentence), you still had a frighteningly large segment of the male gay community having random, anonymous, unprotected sex.

    Imagine their behavior when their conduct is no longer a potential death sentence?

    • Comment removed based on user account deletion
    • We don't have to imagine. PrEP basically eliminates the transmission of HIV and is available now. However it requires recipients to get a doctor checkup every 90 days to test for liver function and includes an STD test. As a result, STDs rates in people taking PrEP are dropping.

    • Imagine their behavior when their conduct is no longer a potential death sentence?

      The sluts that have random, anonymous unprotected sex that put themselves at the greatest risk do so even in spite of the current risk of catching HIV.

      So out of the millions of gay sexually active males in the US, many more will become sluts and no longer care about STDs and safe sex, just because the risk or consequences of catching HIV is decreased?

      And even if they do, so what? It doesn't affect me, unless I'm forced to pay for their health care. If it drives more research towards finding a cure for the 1

    • by Xarius ( 691264 )

      Imagine their behavior when their conduct is no longer a potential death sentence?

      It hasn't been a death sentence for over 20 years now and we haven't seen the kind of "moral crisis" you heavily imply. It's not even an economic life sentence, except in the USA. That's a result of a terrible healthcare system though.

  • it can't fix stupid.
  • If what I heard in a documentary was correct, that part of the same gene that makes people not susceptible to HIV is also one that saved those few who did not succumb to the bubonic plague.

The explanation requiring the fewest assumptions is the most likely to be correct. -- William of Occam

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