A handful of people with HIV are able to control the disease without treatment, and now research on these so-called elite controllers is offering clues in the search for a cure. "We found that in elite controllers, HIV was often found in locations of the human genome that researchers call 'gene deserts,'" she told AFP. In the past, it was assumed that if intact HIV genomes were present then a patient could still become sick. Yu said her team would now search for more elite controllers who might have achieved a cure without treatment. The team also plans to examine more long-term ART patients to see if any have similar virus profiles to elite controllers.

Source: Daily Nation August 27, 2020 03:41 UTC