Doctors near HIV cure with 'previously impossible' discovery

An estimated 39 million people around the world are living with HIV — and, while treatment options can ensure they have long, healthy lives, there is no known cure.

Antiretroviral therapy (ART) — the most effective current treatment — can reduce HIV levels in the body so low the virus is almost undetectable.

An estimated 39 million people around the world are living with HIV. dpa/picture alliance via Getty Images

However, the fact that the virus can hide in certain white blood cells has been a major hurdle in fully eradicating it.

Now, researchers in Australia have developed a novel lipid nanoparticle, dubbed LNP X, capable of delivering mRNA into these elusive cells.

Once inside, the mRNA instructs the cells to reveal the concealed virus, potentially allowing the immune sys