Scientists engineer HIV assassin cells

Researchers have engineered T-cells which seek and destroy HIV/Aids in the body.

The University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and colleagues in the UK reported the breakthrough in the journal Nature Medicine.

When HIV/Aids enters the body it disguises itself from the body’s immune system, making it harder to fight, researchers said.

The new engineered T-cells recognise the virus quickly and deal with it rapidly, the team added.

Co-senior author of the study Professor Andy Sewell from Cardiff University in the UK explained why the researchers had focused on fighting HIV/Aids.

"As soon as we saw over a decade ago how quickly the virus can evade the immune system we knew there would never be a conventional vaccine for HIV," he said.

The professor expected the virus to react by dying or changing its disguise, which would weaken the strain in the body.

Researchers hope to begin trial on volunteers with HIV/Aids soon.

According to Aids charity Avert, there were 33 million people living with HIV/Aids at the end of last year.

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