The Scientist Interviews Dr. Kamel Khalili about New Research He Led with Dr. Rafal Kaminski and Colleagues at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine on Novel Gene-Editing Strategy to Eliminate HIV Infection

Genetic alterations that give rise to a rare, fatal disorder known as MOGS-CDG paradoxically also protect cells against infection by viruses. Scientists at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University have harnessed this unusual protective ability in a novel gene-editing strategy aimed at eliminating HIV-1 infection with no adverse effects on cell mortality. The Scientist interviewed Kamel Khalili, PhD, Laura H. Carnell Professor and Chair of the Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Inflammation at the Katz School of Medicine, about the approach, which is described online in the journal Molecular Therapy – Nucleic Acids and is led by Dr. Khalili and co-corresponding author Rafal Kaminski, PhD, Assistant Professor at the Center for Neurovirology and Gene Editing at the Katz School of Medicine. Dr. Kaminski, Dr. Khalili, and Tricia H. Burdo, PhD, Professor and Vice Chair in the Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Inflammation at the Katz School of Medicine and an expert in the use of non-human primate models for HIV-1, have been working together to further assess the efficacy and safety of CRISPR-MOGS strategy in preclinical studies.