LOGOLOGOLOGOLOGO
  • About us
    • What we do
    • Who we are
      • Governance
      • Staff
      • Vacancies
  • Members
    • EuropaBio Members
    • About Membership
  • How we work
    • Healthcare Biotechnology Council
      • Patient BioForum
      • Study – Impact of the EU’s General Pharmaceutical Legislation
    • Industrial Biotechnology Council
      • EFIB
      • Microorganisms
    • National Associations Council
    • SME Platform
    • Biomanufacturing Platform
      • Biotechnology in our Lives
  • Activities
    • 25 Years of Innovation
    • The EU Biotech Act
    • European Biotech Week
    • EU Projects
      • PRIMED Project
      • APROVALS Project
  • News & Events
    • News
    • Events
  • Library
Become a member
✕

What if we could definitively cure AIDS

26/01/2020
FACTSHEET
What if we could definitively cure AIDS

This might be possible in the future by going into the DNA and deleting the AIDS-causing virus

Promise: A combination of antiviral therapy and genome editing has succeeded in removing the HIV virus from infected mice.

Did you know?
Globally, more than 5000 people are infected by HIV every day. Curing people of HIV would impede its spread and bring us closer to achieving the third UN Sustainable Development Goal of Good Health and Well-Being.

UNAIDS estimates that in 2018 more than 36.7 million people worldwide were infected with the human immunodeficiency virus type one (HIV-1). This virus causes acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), which breaks down the immune system and makes patients susceptible to infections and cancers. Depending on the type of HIV, patients have on average 9 to 11 years to live after infection. Antiviral treatment can extend life expectancy, but does not cure the disease itself.

That could change in the future, though. In July 2019, scientists at Temple University and the University of Nebraska succeeded in eliminating HIV-1 from living animals using CRISPR genome editing. CRISPR/Cas9 is a protein used for precision genetic engineering that allows scientists to change or delete individual letters of the genetic code with high efficiency and relative ease. Because viruses integrate themselves into the genome of their host, curing the HIV infection requires cutting them out of the DNA in all the infected cells. The approach followed by the researchers consists in combining a long-acting, slow release antiviral therapy with CRISPR/Cas9 delivery to the body’s cells. The antiviral therapy subdues the infection and CRISPR removes the DNA. In this combination, it successfully cuts out the DNA from infected immune cells in living mice. The virus can no longer be found in the blood, lymphoid tissue, bone marrow, or brain. This new approach will hopefully soon be replicated in clinical trials. This is potentially lifesaving news for millions of people.

What if we could definitively cure AIDS


Download
2020_01_H_F_EuropaBIO_WHATIF_AIDS_V04Download
Share
Alexandra Simionca
Alexandra Simionca

Related posts

07/07/2025

EuropaBio Position on the Critical Medicines Act


Read more
03/07/2025

Life Sciences Strategy Embraces Biotech for Global Impact


Read more
26/06/2025

Health Biomanufacturing: Feedstock for Preparedness and Resilience


Read more

Important links

  • EuropaBio Position on the Critical Medicines Act
  • Life Sciences Strategy Embraces Biotech for Global Impact

Categories in our Newsroom

EBIO-white

EuropaBio represents corporate and associate members across sectors, plus national and regional biotechnology associations which, in turn, represent over 5000 biotech companies, 4600 out of them are SMEs.

Contact us

Extra links

Members
Staff
Privacy policy
Legal & cookies
Events
Newsroom

Become a member

Media pack

© 2025 Europabio. All Rights Reserved. Designed by EYAS
Become a member

Algal Omega 3

Algal Omega-3 is an innovative feed product for aquaculture. It reduces the impact on climate change by 30-40% compared to fish oil and saves 60 tons of wild fish for every ton of Algal Omega-3 used.

Cheese

Cheese is a vegetarian product thanks to biotechnology. Biotechnology is also essential to produce lactose- or cholesterol-free cheese, as well as alternative proteins.

Clothes

Clothes made from alternative fibres produced by microorganisms can be 8x stronger than steel, 100% recyclable, biodegradable and replace fossil-fuel based or resource-intensive textiles.

Vitamin B2

The biomanufacturing of Vitamin B2 led to the reduction of 75% of fossil raw materials and 50% operating costs, compared to the chemical process. Vitamin B2 is used in the food, feed or healthcare sectors.

Detergents

Enzymes and biosurfactancts are alternative ingredients that improve the performance of detergents, while leading to water and energy savings and reductions in CO2 emissions and water toxicity.

Insulin

Insulin is one of the most widely known biopharmaceutical. Biotechnology revolutionised its manufacturing process and led to the development of new types of insulin through r-DNA technology.