Stem cells from a donor have proven successful in the control of AIDs as well as curing Leukemia in a Berlin patient, as reported in the New England Journal of Medicine. The stem cells are from a donor whose bone marrow stem cells are a genetic variant that lacks the CCR5 section, a section that actually helps the AIDs virus enter a cell.
1% of humans are reported to have the genetic variant that lacks CCR5, and one of those was found to be an acceptable donor of bone marrow stem cells. Stem cell transplanting is a dangerous business (unlike adult stem cells from the patient), and is reserved for very ill patients, this time one who also had Leukemia. In this case, the CCR5-free stem cells successfully controlled the AIDs virus and also cured the Leukemia.
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