Perspectives of Genome-Editing Technologies for HIV Therapy

Background: Current HIV antiretroviral therapies potently suppress virus replication and prevent patients from progressing to AIDS but are unable to completely eliminate HIV due to the existence of dormant viral reservoirs which threaten to reemerge at anytime. Recently, genome-editing technologies that can recognize specific DNA sequences, including viral DNA, are being touted as promising tools for curing HIV, owing to their specificity, ease of use, and ability to be custom designed. Conclusion: Here, we introduce several novel strategies aimed at eradicating HIV proviruses with state-of-the-art genome-editing technologies and discuss perspectives of these approaches for curing HIV.