A man has become the seventh person to be left HIV-free after receiving a stem cell transplant to treat blood cancer. Significantly, he is also the second of the seven who received stem cells that were not actually resistant to the virus, strengthening the case that HIV-resistant cells may not be necessary for an HIV cure.

“Seeing that a cure is possible without this resistance gives us more options for curing HIV,” says Christian Gaebler at the Free University of Berlin.

Image: STEVE GSCHMEISSNER/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

A handful of people with HIV have been cured after receiving HIV-resistant stem cells – but a man who received non-resistant stem cells is also now HIV-free.

By Carissa Wong