By James Gallagher Health and science reporter, BBC News
Doctors have used gene therapy to upgrade the immune system of 12 patients with HIV to help shield them from the virus’s onslaught.
It raises the prospect of patients no longer needing to take daily medication to control their infection.
The patients’ white blood cells were taken out of the body, given HIV resistance and then injected back in.
The small study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, suggested the technique was safe.
Some people are born with a very rare mutation that protects them from HIV.
It changes the structure of their T-cells, a part of the immune system, so that the virus cannot get inside and multiply.
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http://www.bbc.com/news/health-26451427