New Gene Editing Technology Eliminates HIV

CRISPR gene editing technology is
barely two years old and it is already shaking up biotechnology and
medicine. Using CRISPR biotechnologists can precisely edit genomes
down to a single set of base pairs. Researchers are currently
exploring just how to use this powerful new technology to treat all
sorts of illnesses including sickle cell disease and cystic
fibrosis.

Researchers reported in the latest issue of the Proceedings
of the National Academy of Sciences how they used CRISPR
to entirely exterpate HIV virus from various types of infected
human cells. The PNAS editors rate the research’s significance:

For more than three decades since the discovery of HIV-1, AIDS
remains a major public health problem affecting greater than 35.3
million people worldwide. Current antiretroviral therapy has failed
to eradicate HIV-1, partly due to the persistence of viral
reservoirs. RNA-guided HIV-1 genome cleavage by the Cas9 technology
has shown promising efficacy in disrupting the HIV-1 genome in
latently infected cells, suppressing viral gene expression and
replication, and immunizing uninfected cells against HIV-1
infection. These properties may provide a viable path toward a
permanent cure for AIDS, and provide a means to vaccinate against
other pathogenic viruses. Given the ease and rapidity of Cas9/guide
RNA development, personalized therapies for individual patients
with HIV-1 variants can be developed instantly.

Obviously, much more work needs to be done, especially on how to
deliver CRISPR enabled therapies in the actual bodies of patients.
Still, investigators have already applied CRISPR to
cure mice of a genetic liver disease and other investigators
used it to
genetically modify monkeys. It seems likely that CRISPR will
usher in a range of highly
effective new therapies before the end of the decade.