The perfidious virus – why HIV is so hard to beat

Doctors in Spain successfully treated an AIDS patient – but don’t want to speak of a cure. The problem: HIV can “hide” in human DNA for a long time and resurface long after a patient is considered HIV free. Approximately 35 million people were living with AIDS in 2013, according to the World Health Organization. And doctors in Spain have now taken a significant step towards improving their lives. A 37-year-old man who was infected with HIV in 2009 was treated at the Catalan Oncology Institute, where he received blood transplants from the umbilical cords of people who are genetically resistant to HIV. They carry a mutation that prevents the autoimmune disease from entering cells in the human body. “After he had received the cord blood transplant, the patient didn’t have detectable levels of HIV,” said Rafael Duarte, director of the Hematopoietic Transplant Program at the Barcelona clinic. Unfortunately, the so-called “Barcelona Patient” couldn’t...