Researchers say they’re closer to finding cure for HIV after using CRISPR technology to eliminate disease in live mice for the first time

From CNBC.com (July 2):

Researchers say they’re one step closer to finding a potential cure for HIV after successfully eliminating the virus in living mice for the first time.

Using a combination of CRISPR gene-editing technology and a therapeutic treatment called LASER ART, scientists at Temple University and the University of Nebraska Medical Center said they erased HIV DNA from the genomes of animals in what they call an unprecedented study that was published Tuesday in the journal Nature Communications.

“We think this study is a major breakthrough because it for the first time demonstrates after 40 years of the AIDS epidemic that the HIV disease is a curable disease,” said study co-author Dr. Kamel Khalili, chair of the department of neuroscience and director of the Center for Neurovirology and the Comprehensive NeuroAIDS Center at Temple University. [read more]