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HIV virions (red) budding and being released from an immune cell (blue). (NIH Image Gallery) AIDS researchers announced on Wednesday that a fourth person has been "cured" of HIV, but the dangerous procedure for patients also battling cancer may be little comfort for the tens of millions living with the virus worldwide. The 66-year-old man, named the "City of Hope" patient after the Californian center where he was treated, was declared in remission in the lead-up to the International AIDS Conference, which begins in Montreal, Canada on Friday. He is the second person to be announced cured this year, after...

Editor's note: Soon after this article was posted to AIDSmeds and POZ, the editorial staff discovered that the long-anonymous Berlin Patient has decided to come forward, for the first time ever, in a profile published in the December 9 issue of Stern magazine. He is 44-year-old Timothy Ray Brown. (Click here for an approximate English translation of the profile teaser posted to stern.de.) The “Berlin Patient”—a man living with HIV who underwent a transplant involving HIV-resistant stem cells in 2007 for the treatment of leukemia—has been classified as cured of his HIV, according to an update of the patient’s experience published online, ahead of print, on...

But the treatment is too risky to help most who are infected with the virus. A man may have been cured of both HIV and leukaemia after receiving a stem-cell transplant from a donor who is genetically resistant to HIV. A man may have been cured of both HIV and leukaemia after receiving a stem-cell transplant from a donor who is genetically resistant to HIV. About two years after the procedure, there is still no sign of the virus, even though the patient no longer takes antiretroviral drugs. Nature News takes a look at the promises and limitations of the...

E-mail Author Author Archive Send to a Friend Version June 10, 2005, 11:55 a.m. AIDing Disease The real bogeymen are the ones protesting research and development. Some AIDS activists are impossible to satisfy. While pharmaceutical researchers toil to treat and prevent AIDS, assorted protesters demand so much that drug companies are throwing their hands up in exasperation. Perfectionist groups literally have halted promising drug trials. These militants should desist before they jeopardize even more human lives. This battle between “patient advocates” and drug manufacturers rages primarily in Africa and Asia, where AIDS spreads as quickly as juicy gossip. Because...

Close window Published online: 06 January 2005; | doi:10.1038/news050103-8 Gene fights off HIVHelen Pearson Extra copies generate protein that confers disease resistance. Treatments for HIV could one day be tailored to a person's genes.© WHO/ P. Hugo A gene that partly explains people's different susceptibility to HIV has been identified by US scientists. The discovery may help doctors tailor treatment to patients' genetic make-up. Researchers know that certain people are naturally resistant to HIV. Some people develop full-blown AIDS several months after infection by the virus, whereas others remain disease-free for decades. Differences in a gene called CCL3L1 may underlie some...

Body reveals its inflammation 'off switch' 18:00 01 October 2006 NewScientist.com news service Deb MacKenzie Researchers have shed light on how the body switches off its immune response, a key step towards understanding autoimmune diseases and controlling inflammation. When immune cells die, they transform into “sponges” that soak up the molecules responsible for causing inflammation, researchers have discovered. The new information may lead to better drugs to treat inflammatory disorders, such as eczema. Inflammation is characterised by a red, painful swelling around a wound caused by blood fluids, proteins and immune cells flooding into an area of the body in...