I'd like to know if it is the real deal or overhyped?Since HIV was discovered 30 years ago this week, 30 million people have died from the disease, and it continues to spread at the rate of 7,000 people per day globally, the UN says.
There's not much good news when it comes to this devastating virus. But that is perhaps why the story of the man scientists call the "Berlin patient" is so remarkable and has generated so much excitement among the HIV advocacy community.
Timothy Ray Brown suffered from both leukemia and HIV when he received a bone marrow stem cell transplant in Berlin, Germany in 2007. The transplant came from a man who was immune to HIV, which scientists say about 1 percent of Caucasians are. (According to San Francisco's CBS affiliate, the trait may be passed down from ancestors who became immune to the plague centuries ago. This Wired story says it was more likely passed down from people who became immune to a smallpox-like disease.)
What happened next has stunned the dozens of scientists who are closely monitoring Brown: His HIV went away.
"He has no replicating virus and he isn't taking any medication. And he will now probably never have any problems with HIV," his doctor Gero Huetter told Reuters. Brown now lives in the Bay Area, and suffers from some mild neurological difficulties after the operation. "It makes me very happy," he says of the incredible cure.
Borek said:Old news. Please read the last paragraph here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AIDS#Research_directions
But it doesn't look to me like a viable way of dealing with the disease. Finding a donor for each AIDS patient?
sadsoul81 said:I didn't even know this was possible. Even if it was as you said "trading one evil in for another" it's still a big breakthrough.
The Berlin Patient case refers to a man named Timothy Brown, who was cured of HIV after receiving a stem cell transplant from a donor with a rare genetic mutation that makes cells resistant to HIV infection.
The Berlin Patient was cured of HIV through a stem cell transplant, also known as a bone marrow transplant. The donor for the transplant had a rare genetic mutation, known as the CCR5-delta32 mutation, which makes cells resistant to HIV infection.
No, the Berlin Patient is not the only person to have been cured of HIV. There have been two other recorded cases of HIV remission after stem cell transplants, known as the London Patient and the Düsseldorf Patient. However, these cases are still considered rare and not a feasible cure for the general population.
The Berlin Patient case has sparked interest and further research into using stem cell transplants as a potential cure for HIV. It has also led to a better understanding of the role of the CCR5 gene in HIV infection and potential avenues for developing new treatments.
The Berlin Patient's treatment involves a complex and risky procedure, and is not a feasible option for the general population. However, the success of this case has opened up new avenues for HIV research and may lead to the development of more accessible and effective treatments in the future.