According to Johnston, some of those challenges include making the therapy more efficient so that more T-cells are converted, as well as finding a reliable way to insert the gene into the person.
And any treatment coming out of this research will likely not be cheap. According to the Associated Press, company spokespeople say the gene therapy might cost $93,000. Other AIDS drugs are also expensive, in the range of $25,000 a year.
According to June, the treatment might someday have applications "beyond the field of HIV therapy."
"This is the first successful example of targeted genetic modification of the DNA code in patients, and therefore this has implications for the development of corrective gene therapy disorders for a number of monogenic gene disorders of the bone marrow, such as sickle cell anemia, that are currently incurable," he said.
More information
For more on HIV/AIDS, visit the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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