Stem Cell Therapy Could Lead to HIV Cure

July 24, 2014

(San Francisco Gate) – Two teams of scientists with strong ties to the Bay Area are racing to develop a stem cell therapy that would provide a practical cure for people living with HIV infection, leaving them with an immune system capable of keeping them healthy without daily medication even as some virus remains circulating in their bloodstream. Both groups of researchers are trying to capitalize on the DNA of so-called elite controllers – people who are naturally resistant to HIV due to a genetic mutation that prevents the virus from latching on to their immune cells.