—TIMOTHY RAY BROWN, also known as the “Berlin patient,” the only person believed to be cured of AIDS. In 2007, Brown had a blood stem cell transplant to treat leukemia using a donor who had a rare gene mutation that provided natural resistance to HIV. Doctors declared Brown “cured” soon after. Researchers in California recently found traces of HIV in Brown’s tissues, but he says any remnants of the virus in his body are dead and can’t replicate. [via AP and CNN]
“I quit taking my HIV medication on the day I got my first transplant. ... My HIV was gone...three months after the first transplant — totally eradicated from my body.”