by B.J. Caldwell, Educator

In the June 2010 edition of Science Transitional Medicine there is a study looking at transplanting genetically altered (in a way that can provide protection from HIV) bone marrow cells that will eventually go on to become other cells in the body.

I blogged in Feb of 2009 about the American ex-pat living in Germany whose HIV infection was functionally cured in a similar fashion (the only person known to be functionally cured). That was essentially a `proof of concept` for a gene based therapy to treat HIV. What exactly did these researchers do?

They took 4 PHAs who also had an HIV-related lymphoma (cancer) and were undergoing a bone marrow transplant to cure the cancer. Instead of only putting the usual mix of cells into the transplant they added genetically altered CD34+ cells which have 3 separate anti-HIV "qualities". They found evidence of persistent presence up until 24 months -- meaning the treatment showed evidence of working for up to 2 years. This is a good sign showing that gene therapy is possible in treating HIV (theoretically...it's complicated) and these transplants of progenitor cells with HIV protection which then protects its future offspring.

There were some ethical limitations which limited some really interesting avenues of research, but hopefully as more evidence mounts the ethical restrictions can be removed. From the moment we understood HIV and infection there has been talk of somehow genetically modifying our immune cells to be resistant in some way to HIV --- the best way of doing that is by doing a transplant of "progenitor cells" (sort of like stem cells) which will then pass on the protection. And, in this small and very early stage of research, they seem to have done just that. But this is likely many years away from your local doctor's office --- and may not even work in the end. But it shows great promise and provides more evidence for gene therapy to treat and possibly prevent HIV infection.