Could this be the cure for HIV?

In what could be a significant breakthrough for HIV sufferers around the world, a team of German scientists has succeeded in completely removing the virus from infected cells.

The process, developed by biomedical researchers at Dresden Technical University involves using an enzyme to 'cut' the virus from the DNA of infected cells, leaving them alive and well.

According to Professor Joachim Hauber, head of the antiviral strategy section at Hamburg's Heinrich Pette Institute, which shared in the research, the approach is totally unique in being able to counteract an HIV infection.

'There are various methods and similar approaches, but removing the virus from infected cells is unique', he told German news site thelocal.de.

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The treatment has, so far, only been shown to work in HIV-infected mice. Clinical trials would be needed to establish whether it could work in people. As it stands, there are no plans in place to fund a trial.

The treatment would work by taking blood from infected patients, treating it with the enzyme, and transfusing it back into the patients. The enzyme targets stem cells, altering their DNA. Once reintroduced into the body, these cells would reproduce, and cut the HIV from other infected cells.

Such results were seen in the mice. Professor Hauber said that 'the amount of virus was clearly reduced, and even no longer to be found in the blood.'

Professor Frank Buchholz, who led the team working in Dresden, said that the treatment could be ready for use in ten years' time.

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Explaining how they arrived at the treatment, he said  that an enzyme had been created through various rounds of mutation and selection that could identify the HIV virus. So-called 'recombinase-class enzymes' have the ability to manipulate DNA, removing sections and reassembling it.

The researchers have created an enzyme which can do that with the HIV sequence of DNA, which Professor Buchholz described as 'a retrovirus which gets into the genetic substance in DNA'. They claim it is more than 90% successful in identifying the virus.

 President of the German Aids Society, Professor Jürgen Rockstroh said he hoped funding could be found for further work on the approach.

"It is one of the most exciting things of all," he said. "There is a vague hope of cure, but that must first be proven."

Lisa Power, director of policy at the Terrence Higgins Trust, one of the UK's largest HIV/AIDS charities, said that the news was to be cautiously welcomed.

'It's a new, different approach, and multiple approaches are always helpful. We're looking for complete eradication of the disease, and anything that could offer that is worth pursuing. But we are already able to give people with HIV effective lifelong treatment, so anything new has to prove itself better than that. This is a long way off yet.'