Doctors Cure AIDS

A German doctor claims to have cured a man with AIDS through a bone marrow transplant. The 42 year old American patient had been suffering with both AIDS and leukemia when the operation was completed and now, nearly two years later there is still trace of the disease.

Since the patient had leukemia he was told that he would need a bone marrow treatment to live and because he also had AIDS his doctors looked to find a donor with a specific genetic mutation that is known to be resistant to the AIDS virus, known as CCR5. This mutation causes cells to be produced without CCR5 receptors. The HIV virus binds itself to these receptors in order to spread throughout the blood so in theory a person with this mutation would be unable to contract the HIV virus.

After coming off his HIV medication he still remains HIV and cancer free.

Yet despite the success treatment to cure AIDS is still long off. German hematologist Dr. Gero Hutter said that the procedure has such a high mortality rate that performing it on someone would be unethical unless they needed the transplant anyway to treat some other disease like in this situation. However, the idea raises hopes that gene therapy might one day discover a cure for HIV.

Though it may seem to be unethical to risk someones life who is living normally on medication it may be the best option for those whose disease has already progressed past a reasonable point. The treatment can be offered to those who are near death and have little left to lose.

The treatments for HIV and AIDS are extremely costly and there will always come a time when they no longer work for the patient. As the patient takes the medications, the virus mutates and requires stronger drugs with harsher side effects in order to keep it under control. As a last resort a bone marrow transplant with donor marrow that carries the CCR5 mutation could be offered as a solution.

The success of the procedure seems very hopeful and gives real possibility to someday finding a cure to HIV. Despite the risks that come along with the surgery it is an ethical option for those who can not wait any longer. The stem cells being used are taken from a donor's bone marrow eliminating any moral concerns that could arise concerning the orientation of the stem cells. I think that the results are just another example of how beneficial stem cell research is in finding cures and shows why research should continue.