E-Mail Scientists have determined the optimal conditions following a stem cell transplant that could control HIV without the need of an everyday pill, according to a study published today in eLife. Finding the right balance of stem cell dose, cell type and timing of antiretroviral therapy (ART) could potentially lead to a spontaneous cure of HIV. There are only two cases of HIV cure to date: the Berlin Patient and the London Patient, who both received stem cell transplants with stem cells from donors that lack a molecule called CCR5, which HIV is attracted to. "The major obstacle to HIV eradication is a latent reservoir of long-lived infected cells, and cure strategies aim to eliminate all infected cells or permanently prevent viral reactivation from latency," explains first author E. Fabian Cardozo-Ojeda, Senior Staff Scientist at the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, US. "We wanted to recreate the cures seen in the Berlin and London patients but with reduced toxicity."