American Gene Technologies (AGT) has now been approved for the first round of human trial and this represents a whole new way of fighting HIV. Instead of the antivirals that most of us living with the disease take, this is a therapy that is used to per-fect the white blood cells in a person's body to become immune to HIV. It's fascination when you think of what they are trying to do.
Using a technique called Leukapheresis, an HIV victim has their blood drawn. Then they put the blood through leukapheresis, a technique of separating white blood cells from the blood of a patient. Then the AGT people use gene therapy to make more white blood cells from that patient that are immune to the HIV viruses ability to attach and replicate. The white blood cells, once fixed, are then multiplied then transfused back into the body of the patient. The hope is that the HIV virus that is specific to that patient will now have to combat with white blood cells that once allowed them to become HIV positive. Now the body's white blood cells are immune which, in theory, would not allow the virus to grow and the patient would therefore be cured of the AIDS virus.
This is a non medicine way of being treated for HIV. This means that only the body would be fighting the virus with or without the help of antivirals. It's huge!
Let's pray for the millions of people with HIV that gene therapy is the most natural way of helping the body's immune system to fight the AIDS virus.
The FDA has approved the first trials of this kind of treatment; we wish all the participants love and the best results possible. Isn't it about time to have a generation that doesn't have to worry about HIV?
Lori, of course, hates this idea...she wants people to fear her diseases, thus fear her, but I want people to be healthy. We are completely different in our approach to HIV. I want it gone, Lori can't seem to live without it. Isn't that strange?
