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Next year, the world’s first clinical trial for a drug against the HIV retrovirus that causes AIDS will begin in Hamburg. The study treated eight patients with a combination of genetically modified stem cells and a specially developed enzyme, Brec 1. This was announced by the Max Planck Institute.
The concept was developed by researchers at the Heinrich Pette Institute (HPI) in Hamburg, the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Cell Biology in Dresden and the Technical University in Dresden. The study is supervised by startup Provirex.
Genetic scissors
All previously known HIV / AIDS therapies aim to stop the multiplication of retroviruses with the help of so-called HIV inhibitors. This allows the viral load in the blood of the treated person to be kept below a certain value and thus prevents the collapse of the immune system in the long term. AIDS no longer occurs.
HIV inhibitors have been shown to be very effective in fighting AIDS in recent years. However, the problem remains that the genetic material of retroviruses binds to immune cells, and the virus can be activated again at any time. So it is not a cure. Also, HIV inhibitors are quite expensive. That is why many people still die of AIDS, especially in developing countries. New technology could offer a solution.
The artificially produced enzyme Brec 1 plays a central role in German therapy, for which a scientific study was first published in 2016 Biotechnology nature showed up. Blood stem cells are taken from the patients, to whom the genetic material of Brec 1 is then added. When it returns to the body, the protein acts as a kind of “genetic scissor” that removes the HIV virus from white blood cells and cells. infected mother.
An explanatory video from Provirex:
There is hope that genetically engineered Brec 1 stem cells will have a competitive advantage over other stem cells and multiply more. In this way, the HIV virus could eventually disappear and no further medication would be required.
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