The debate continues on the treatment and possible cure of HIV/AIDS. Some doctors support a gene therapy approach, while others believe a new drug targets latent HIV, which is the virus that hides in reservoirs during treatment; then, when the drugs are stopped, this latent virus emerges to renew the disease. There are no miracle cures for HIV, but an ongoing research effort is making progress in possibly suppressing the disease. HIV/AIDS is difficult to cure because the virus reproduces by putting its genetic code into human cells. The cells are identified as CD4 cells.

Currently, antiretroviral drugs work well by interfering with the replication process of the virus, but not all cells act in the same way. Therefore, dormant CD4 cells are not affected by antiretroviral drugs and can emerge and cause a new infection. This is why the virus is so difficult to eradicate. There are no miracle cures for HIV, but an ongoing research effort has two potential treatments to suppress and perhaps cure the disease. The treatments are drugs that activate dormant cells and gene therapy that target specific genes in the body that make cells susceptible to the virus.

The new drugs work by activating dormant cells and making them vulnerable to antiretroviral drugs, so they can’t hide and resurface later. The shortcomings of this therapy are that the drugs can target other cells and cause unwanted side effects for the patient. Gene therapy works by removing a patient’s cells, genetically modifying them in the laboratory, and injecting them back into the patient’s body. Some doctors argue that gene therapy is scientifically flawed and poses a high risk to the patient. Dealing with a virus capable of replicating and lying dormant means there can be no miracle cures for HIV, but continued research effort may, in the future, find ways to suppress or change the way these cells react.

HIV needs a protein called CCR5 in order to attach to and infect a cell. The CCR5 protein is found on the surface of white blood cells, and people born with an alternative protein to CCR5 are immune to HIV infection. With this new information, there are still no miracle cures for HIV, but with continued research and testing effort, a gene therapy may be available in the future that may be safer for the patient and produce promising results.