A team of researchers at the Dresden University of Technology in Germany say they managed to create an enzyme that can identify a sequence of HIV and remove it with 90 % accuracy, according to The Local.
The scientists used a genetic modification technique to cut HIV out of infected cells in mice.
"The amount of virus was clearly reduced, and even no longer to be found in the blood," said Professor Joachim Hauber, of Heinrich Pette Institute in Hamburg.
The enzyme — sometimes called "molecular scissors" — gets inside the DNA double helix, cuts it up and rearranges it in a new, HIV-free pattern, according to the European news site.
Hauber said it is the only method to actually remove an HIV infection.
"There are various methods and similar approaches, but removing the virus from infected cells is unique," Hauber said.
But it is premature for scientists to be able to conclude what this progress means for people.
Professor Frank Buchholz, leader of the research team from the Dresden University of Technology, thinks the research could potentially be ready for humans in about a decade, The Local reports.
"Blood would be taken from patients and the stem cells, which can form blood cells, removed," he said.
Professor Jürgen Rockstroh, president of the German Aids Society, hopes the scientists can secure enough funding to continue their work — and possibly find a cure.
The only patient thought to be cured of HIV is Timothy Ray Brown, who received a bone marrow transplant in 2007.
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