HIV turns Savior for Rare Immunity Disorder

The HIV virus was responsible for so much death and destruction in the human race that it was considered the villain of the story. However now researchers have used the virus in an altered form to help eight babies who were born with a very rare immunity disorder known colloquially as the Bubble Boy Disease.

This name comes from a famous case study of SCID or severe combined immunodeficiency syndrome in the 1970s, where a boy in Texas lived for 12 years inside a protective plastic bubble to isolate him from potentially fatal infection caused by germs. Children born with SCID don’t have a working germ fighting system and any infection can be threat to their very lives.

The research based treatment carried out at the St. Jude Children’s Hospital in Memphis used the HIV virus to help normalize the immunity system of the babies born with SCID. Since the rare disorder usually kills the children born with the disease within the first two years of birth, it is heartening to know that the results of this science project have been extremely positive.