Using CRISPR to beat HIV

Although antiretroviral drugs work well to keep HIV under control, about one in 10 patients inexplicably retain detectable levels of the virus in their bloodstream. This is thanks to the presence of “repliclones,” cell populations that have the HIV genome burrowed within the exact same spot in their chromosomes, according to a report in Science.

Scientists are now pondering whether CRISPR might offer these patients an important tool — allowing the HIV-linked genetic material embedded in their chromosomes to be cut right out.

“It’s a science fiction idea that one day may be possible,” National Cancer Institute retrovirologist George Pavlakis told Science.