CCR5 - 'THE HIV IMMUNITY GENE'

CCR5 

People who inherit two copies of CCR5, the so-called 'immune gene', one from each parent, seem to have strong immunity to HIV. The mutation, occurs in an estimated 1 per cent of people descended from Northern Europeans, with a lower percentage in other races

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2156697/How-man-cured-AIDS-inspired-doctors-discover-revolutionary-new-treatment.html#ixzz1xMzM5kpx

Scientists have been studying immunity to HIV since the disease was discovered 30 years ago, as it soon became apparent that a small percentage of people seemed to be naturally resistant.

Researchers eventually zoomed in on a gene called CCR5. That gene codes for a protein that acts as a 'receptor' outside white blood cells - essentially a 'lock'.

If that receptor isn't present, it seems that the HIV virus cannot break into the blood cell. That means it cannot begin the infection that eventually leads to AIDS.

Scientists believe those who have one copy of the CCR5 gene enjoy some resistance against HIV, but not total immunity. 

That seems to be the case in about 10 to 15 per cent of those descended from Northern Europeans.

Those who inherit two copies of this so-called 'immune gene', one from each parent, seem to have strong immunity to HIV. 

Scientists say the gene is really a mutation, and that DNA studies suggest it arose in the Middle Ages. 

Some experts have suggested it spread in response to the Black Plague, while others have pointed to smallpox as more likely.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2156697/How-man-cured-AIDS-inspired-doctors-discover-revolutionary-new-treatment.html#ixzz1xMz9qmjE