The
Technique Points to Safer, Simpler Potential HIV Treatment
(July 1, 2012) Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute have
discovered a surprisingly simple and safe method to disrupt specific genes
within cells. The scientists highlighted the medical potential of the new
technique by demonstrating its use as a safer alternative to an experimental
gene therapy against HIV infection.
“We showed
that we can modify the genomes of cells without the troubles that have long
been linked to traditional gene therapy techniques,” said the study’s senior
author Carlos F. Barbas III, who is the Janet and Keith Kellogg II Professor of
Molecular Biology and Chemistry at The Scripps Research Institute.