A gene-editing therapy based on CRISPR–Cas9 designed to eliminate HIV-1 infection has rekindled hopes among scientists that it may be possible to eradicate the virus and cure the infection. In an in vivo editing study in non-human primates conducted by scientists from Temple University and Excision BioTherapeutics, a single dose of a CRIPSR therapy excised the simian immunodeficiency virus (closely related to HIV-1) from the DNA of infected animals with no observable off-target effects or other safety problems. The equivalent human therapy, EBT-101, is undergoing a phase 1/2 clinical trial in people infected with HIV-1.
