A person’s immune system fought HIV and won
Kevin Gu
https://www.sciencenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/082520_TI_HIV-blood_feat-1028x579.jpg
sciencenews.org
Recently, there has been a patient who fully cleared the HIV virus with no help from antiretroviral drugs. An analysis of the patient showed that out of the more than 1.5 billion cells that were analysed, none of them had any functional HIV copies. Even though it isn’t 100% proven that there isn’t an intact HIV virus hiding in the patient's body, this breakthrough suggests that certain people’s immune systems have an advantage against the virus.
People who are able to maintain very low HIV levels without the help of antiretroviral drugs are known as elite controllers. Not only does this happen for months or weeks, but most happen for a long period of time. When researchers studied this phenomenon they found that is most people who were infected with HIV, the virus landed in the genes or somewhere near it, but in the case of elite controllers, the virus was trapped in the genome and if it did land in the genes or somewhere near it, they were trapped in a prison-like part of the genome known as the heterochromatin.
Scientists and researchers think that the immune systems of the elite controllers eliminated the cells that were producing the HIV virus and only left behind broken versions of the virus and those stuck in the heterochromatin. However, the process and manner in which the immune system does this isn’t known.
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/hiv-immune-system-elite-controllers
Why is this potential breakthrough important?
How does this shape the future of the HIV virus?
Do you think being an elite controller is possible for everyone?
I do believe everyone can be an elite controller but the chances of that happening are very slim.
ReplyDeleteThis is incredible. This person is changing medicine and giving people hope that we can one day make a cure for HIV. This changes medical history. It is still unknown how this happens, but because some people are able to fight of the virus shows that it can be possible to make a medicine for people infected with HIV. This can significantly improve the patients life and even lengthen their life.
ReplyDeleteI don't think being an elite controller is possible for everyone, because lots of people need to get extra drugs to get rid of the virus and only some people don't need them. - Steven Solomon
ReplyDeleteThis can lead to an overall cure for hiv in the near future. This gives people hope that if they get it they can survive and also lengthen their lives possibly. Sarah LaChance
ReplyDeleteThis is extremely important because it shows that there could be a possible cure.
ReplyDeleteThis can possibly have a major contribution to the future of hiv treatment and hopefully lead to a more efficient way of curing hiv.
ReplyDeleteCharles Poe
It doesn't seem like an elite controller is possible for everyone because their immune systems may not be able to eliminate the cells that produce HIV. -Campbell Marino
ReplyDeleteThis potential breakthrough is important because it shows that there could be a cure.
ReplyDeletethis breakthrough is very important because it will shape the treatments we find in the furture and it shows that most likely there will be a treament.
ReplyDelete-Maddie Silk
I do think this could really change the shape of the virus in years coming. This could mean that we could really cure or protect more people from the virus.
ReplyDelete-Sophia Becklenberg
This is important because it could lead to possible findings for a cure to HIV. This could possibly make HIV less dangerous in earlier or weaker stages. I don't think that being an elite controller is possible for everyone that is why it needs to be studied.-Erik E
ReplyDeleteIf this pans out to be true then we could possibly develop a cure to HIV which would change the lives of people around the world who have been affected by it. I think with enough research an elite controller could be possible for everyone. -Joe Panthalani
ReplyDeletethis is important because it is a step towards finding a cure to HIV -sophia h
ReplyDeleteIf this is true, than we could possibly have some possible cures for HIV and STDs-Takia
ReplyDeletethis could be opening new doors to find cures for HIV so its exciting -kendall dees
ReplyDeleteI think being an elite controller is very slim because your body has to have that adaptation and most people don't have it. However this breakthrough is important because it can mean that in the future peoples bodies may get better at fighting HIV or it cause cause doctors to find a cure.
ReplyDeletejohn ellis
i think that people don't have elite control because people need extra drugs for the virus
ReplyDeleteIt will help with others fighting HIV-Caleb
ReplyDeleteit means that there could be a method to strengthen the immune system of someone who has HIV to be able to get rid of it -Ryan Smith
ReplyDeleteElite controllers still have the disease, but their immune systems are more equipped to fight the virus on their own. -Kevin Gu
ReplyDeleteanswering question 3, no, everyone cannot be an elite controller. I'm sure a majority could be one. Kinda like the flu, everyone has the immune system to fight it, but there are people who don't. Even now, with modern medicine, there are still people who die from the flu.
ReplyDelete-kornell smith
This breakthrough is important because there could possibly be a cure for HIV. lannah
ReplyDeleteThis potential breakthrough is important because it has isolated a scenario where HIV is controlled in the body. in this one scenario HIV doesn't spread and the cells in the area of the body seem like they help destroy the HIV so it doesn't spread. Scientist don't know why this happens in this certain area of the body but since they have proven that it occurs there, they can focus more research on that area o the body to figure out why its happening. Then once they know what happens in that area to control HIV they can figure out how to replicate that biological response to happen elsewhere in the body to control HIV.
ReplyDeleteElla
this breakthrough is important because it can help people who do have HIV -Ryan Carter
ReplyDeleteThis breakthrough is important because the more information they get about it, the more they can get the HIV out of people.-Takia McMorris
ReplyDelete