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Doctors Will Test Gene Editing On HIV Patients

Posted by kdawson on from the importing-mercenaries dept.

Soychemist writes "Some people have a mutation that makes them highly resistant to HIV, and scientists think that they can give that immunity to anyone with a new type of gene therapy. The first human trials will start at the University of Pennsylvania this week. Researchers will draw blood from people with drug-resistant HIV, clip the CCR5 gene out of their T-cells with a nuclease enzyme, grow the modified cells in a dish, and then return 10 billion of them to the patient's bloodstream. Those cells will be immune to the virus, and they will keep the patient's T-cell count up even if the rest are destroyed. 'We will see if it is safe and if those cells inhibit HIV replication in vivo,' said the lead researcher. 'We know they do in the test tube.'"

3 of 263 comments (clear)

  1. Re:might as well guinea pig at that point by RelaxedTension · · Score: 5, Funny

    Or you volunteer, and be the one to get the placebo.

  2. M-x genotype-mode by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    You *know* there's going to be an Emacs mode for gene editing.

  3. Re:might as well guinea pig at that point by jsse · · Score: 5, Funny

    What's the worst that could happen, they screw it up and you die?

    You'll lose all your body hair; become a human-biting-albino that're very sensitive to sunlight; start biting humans and then turn them into your kind; you'll keep your biting until the T-virus in your body because air-bourne infecting disease, when you'd find no human alive for you to bite.

    I didn't mean it'd happen, but since you asked for the worse...