Danish scientists reveal that there could be a breakthrough in deriving a cure for HIV within a few months, reports The Telegraph.
Previous studies have found that as little as 1 percent of the world's population has a natural immunity to AIDS, owing to their genes. In a global effort to find a cure to HIV, researchers from the Aarhus University Hospital, in Aarhus, Denmark, hope to transfer this immunity to the remaining 99 percent of the population.
If they succeed, this would be a major step toward finding a cure for AIDS caused by the HIV virus. According to Danish scientists, this success may come with the next few months. They are currently conducting an experimental test where the HIV virus is stripped from human DNA and then destroyed permanently by the body's immune system.
Through this test, scientists hope to prove that "finding a mass-distributable and affordable cure to HIV is possible."
"I am almost certain that we will be successful in releasing the reservoirs of HIV. The challenge will be getting the patient's immune system to recognize the virus and destroy it. This depends on the strength and sensitivity of individual immune systems," Dr. Ole Sogaard, a senior researcher at the Aarhus University Hospital in Denmark, told The Telegraph.
This technique has already been proved successful in previous studies, and Danish scientists are currently conducting human trials. Owing to the prior success, the Danish Research Council has awarded the scientists 12 million Danish Kroner ($2.97 million) to carry out clinical trials on humans.
"When the first patient is cured in this way it will be a spectacular moment. It will prove that we are heading in the right direction and demonstrate that a cure is possible. But I think it will be five years before we see a cure that can be offered on a large scale," said Dr. John Frater, a clinical research fellow at the Oxford University Nuffield School of Medicine, a member of the CHERUB group.
