CRISPR-based gene editing in HIV-1/AIDS therapy

Abstract

Since the HIV pandemic started 40 years ago there have been improvements in the antiretroviral medication used to decrease motality rate and improve the quality of life of infected individuals. The HIV infection treatment includes immunotherapy which uses immune cells, gene treatments and genome editing tools that make the patients HIV immune system resistant. Combination antiretro therapy can slow down HIV-1 replication but does not kill the proviral DNA that has been introduced into the human genome. In recent years gene editing techniques like CRISPR/Cas9 have been created as a means of treating the HIV-1 infection. Through the use of a vector, this technique delivers a programmable complex made up of Cas9 nuclease and a sinlge guide RNA (sgRNA) into a cell. This complex cuts the genome at a predetermined site to produce certain results. In this thesis I will give a brief insight of HIV-1 gene therapies and how we can use CRISPR/Cas9 to degrade the proviral DNA.