Human Immunodeficiency Syndrome, better known as the HIV virus is one of the world's most notorious sexually-transmitted diseases. If left untreated, it can lead to AIDS or Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome. Going back to its history, HIV infection has existed in the US at least since the mid-to-late 1970s.
Recently, it has been found that gene therapy can now be made possible even for the poorest of countries. Through the help of a handheld portable device that has been discovered, medical personnel can manipulate a patient's blood to carry out potential new medications for cancer, HIV and other types of diseases.
In turn, it is seen to gradually diminish the need for multi-million dollar "clean rooms." Developed by experts at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, the said device known as "gene therapy in a box" can now alter blood stem cells that were as good or even better as those that is being produced in costly clean rooms.
Furthermore, according to the study that was published in Nature Communications, the device actually requires less than half of the regular staff which means that less manpower is also needed. Additionally, the study emphasizes the fact that when tested in two different animals, the adapted cells has been successful in repopulating the blood system but is yet to be tested in humans.
According to Nature Communications, a certain study about a semi-automated closed system that can possibly be used for gene therapy has recently been conducted to know more about the impacts of the said portable device. The study suggests a "point of care" delivery approach for gene-modified blood cells using clinically relevant gene transfer in two preclinical transplantation models.
The "gene therapy in a box" treatment was conceptualized by Dr. Jennifer Adair when she became the head of her own lab in 2014. With this new innovation, the fight against HIV and other notorious diseases has just gotten a lot more encouraging.
