One of the most frequent questions I get asked from patients, colleagues and friends is that will there ever be a cure for HIV/AIDS? I myself do wonder if this will happen in my lifetime. The virus currently seems too clever by having many talents such as having the ability to hide in different compartments of the body and show up when it feels like it to cause dis-ease (!) and illness. But it also seems to be a pretty stupid virus to constantly reproduce at such a fast rate which eventually kills its host and thus itself!
We have made huge strides in understanding HIV a lot more in the past 30 years but I suspect it will take much longer to tame the virus. My guess would be that we may eventually have a once or twice yearly injectable vaccine/drug to control ‘virus duplication’ in those infected rather than a complete cure and thus create low levels of virus in the blood. This will certainly be an improvement on taking daily antiretrovirals but unsatisfactory in terms of long term viral suppression or cure. More novel ways to attack the HIV life cycle is needed in a coordinated way with little fall-out from the drone attacks! Preventive vaccines for those without HIV of course remain to be the Holy Grail.
It is pretty amazing that an RNA (type of genes) virus can incorporate itself into our own DNA which means it leaves a permanent ‘signature’ of itself in individuals and perhaps for the next generation too! I suspect many viruses are intrinsically part of the human race since time began and overall ‘expression’ of the viruses into human characteristics and behaviour is of course unknown! Can such small amounts of genetic material have minds and personalities of their own?! If it has efficient reproductive facilities to procreate in ‘favourable’ circumstances then it may have the means of intelligence and forward thinking. We as a human race have to be ahead of this constantly…