News: 12/2021 | George House Trust
News: 12/2021
16 Dec

HIV GENES CAN SUCCESSFULLY BE REMOVED FROM CELLS

By Phillip McCulloch 0 Comments

HIV genes can successfully be removed from cells, scientists find.  Many hurdles to overcome before human trials can start.

 

Scientists have demonstrated the potential of CRISPR-Cas9 technology to remove the HIV genome from the DNA of infected cells. They have also identified some of the consequences of doing so and begun to investigate how these side-effects may be mitigated.

 

In one study, Dr Michele Lai and colleagues at the University of Pisa demonstrated the capacity of  CRISPR-Cas9 to remove HIV genetic material from infected cells but also investigated whether the excised sections of DNA may reintegrate and start replicating again.

 

In another, Dr Jonathan Herskovitz and team at the University of Nebraska showed that when CRISPR-Cas9 is manipulated to target multiple sites at two of HIV’s most important genes, viral replication in infected cells almost completely stopped – with no immediately obvious damage to cellular DNA.

 

It's always good to end the year with good news, and you can read the full article here.

Thursday, 16 December, 2021
16 Dec

WOMEN LIVING WITH HIV ARE UNDER-REPRESENTED IN RESEARCH

By Phillip McCulloch 0 Comments

Women living with HIV are under-represented in research, limiting our understanding of co-morbid diseases.

 

A systematic review of studies of medical conditions in women living with HIV has found large gaps in the data, particularly for women over 50. The studies that do explore this topic showed that women living with HIV are at increased risk of acute cardiac disease, reduced bone mineral density and poorer cognitive function than women in the general population, while their gender increases the risk of kidney disease. Whether the causes of the increased risk are biological or if other factors such as socioeconomic status and ethnicity are also contributing is unclear because of a lack of evidence.

 

Compared to their male counterparts, women living with HIV appear to have co-morbid diseases at a younger age and worse outcomes. Despite women making up more than 50% of HIV diagnoses worldwide, women are under-represented in research. Dr Sonia Raffe and her team conducted a review of studies that examined how common cardiovascular, kidney, bone and neurocognitive disease was in women living with HIV and presented their findings at the 18th European AIDS Conference (EACS 2021).

 

It's always good to end the year with good news, and you can read the full article here.

Monday, 6 December, 2021
03 Dec

THE INDEPENDENT LAUNCHES CHRISTMAS CHARITY APPEAL FOR ESSENTIAL HIV TESTING AROUND THE WORLD

By Phillip McCulloch 0 Comments

Funds Raised for Elton John AIDS Foundation Will Pay For Those At Risk To Be Able To Get Tested, And Will Make Sure They Have Access To The Treatment They Need.

 

Andrew Williams had never heard of the word HIV when he tested positive. It was his mother who had forced him to go to the doctor where he got the diagnosis that he thought was a death sentence.

 

At that time he was in a wheelchair. It was the unbearable itching of his back that finally got him to get medical help but, he discovered, he not only had HIV but diabetes, high blood pressure and kidney disease.

 

That was two years ago. This week, as the 31-year-old joined Sir Elton John and Evening Standard and The Independent owner Evgeny Lebedev in Atlanta to witness the revolutionary new breakthroughs against the disease at the city’s Grady Ponce De Leon Centre, there was no need for a wheelchair. Nor, he now knew, was there any need for fear.

 

Within two months of starting the latest antiretroviral drugs, the virus in his body had become undetectable in his blood. Not only is he now healthy, partly due to the drugs and partly due to the healthy lifestyle adopted for his other illnesses, but he can virtually not pass the infection to other people.

 

He feels, he says, “reborn”. “I have a reason to live,” he explained, “and that is to help people who were like me – and to show you’re going to be OK.”

 

It's always good to end the year with good news, and you can read the full article here.

Friday, 3 December, 2021

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