Gene edits help HIV patient

Gene edits help HIV patient
Gene-edited stem cells that are the precursors of blood cells may help cure AIDS patients, a new discovery by Chinese scientists shows, providing new insights into treatment of the serious infectious disease. 
In the study, researchers used the stem cells and other progenitor cells that had been gene edited to reduce a protein called CCR5, which serves as a doorway for HIV infection of human cells. 
The gene-edited cells were transplanted into a patient infected with HIV and with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. 
The patient, a 27-year-old Chinese, improved greatly during a 19-month follow-up period. "The acute lymphoblastic leukemia was in complete remission and donor cells carrying the ablated CCR5 persisted", according to the study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine on Sept 11.