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Earlier this year, a group of scientists in the Netherlands used the gene editing tool CRISPR to eliminate HIV from immune cells in the lab, an eye-catching approach that is forming the basis of potentially curative therapies for the disease.
HIV impacts an estimated 39 million people around the world and while it is no longer a death sentence thanks to antiretroviral drugs, there is still no recognized cure. Research groups around the world believe that gene editing – which seeks to disable the virus through cutting large swaths of its genetic code – could finally offer a solution.
