Hope rises for persons living with HIV/AIDS with a new study by Australian scientists revealing a groundbreaking application of mRNA technology. The mRNA is the same innovation used in COVID-19 vaccines.
The study further shows that mRNA could transform HIV treatment by targeting the virus’s hidden reservoirs within the body.
The peer-reviewed study, published in Nature Communications, details a novel technique that uses lipid nanoparticles to deliver mRNA molecules into immune cells harboring latent HIV.
These mRNA instructions coax dormant viruses out of hiding — a critical step in efforts to eradicate HIV altogether.
Lead author of the study and director of the Cumming Global Center for Pandemic Therapeutics in Melbourne, Dr. Sharon Lewin, described mRNA as “a miraculous tool to deliver things that you want into places that were not possible before.”
Current HIV treatments, while effective at suppressing the virus, cannot eliminate it. The virus embeds itself in resting CD4 immune cells — a phenomenon scientists call “viral reservoirs” — and can reemerge if therapy is paused. Overcoming these reservoirs has been the central challenge in finding a cure.
The mRNA strategy aligns with a “shock and kill” approach — deliberately reactivating latent HIV so it can then be targeted and destroyed. What makes this new method stand out is its ability to precisely target the relevant immune cells with fewer side effects than past reactivation attempts.
“It’s very, very hard to deal with these cells,” said Dr. Frauke Muecksch, a virologist at Heidelberg University who was not involved in the study. “Really targeting the right population of cells is what makes this paper special.”
The researchers used mRNA to deliver instructions for producing two agents: Tat, a viral protein that reactivates HIV, and CRISPR, a gene-editing tool. The approach successfully roused dormant HIV in lab samples taken from people living with the virus.
Dr. Brad Jones, a viral immunologist at Weill Cornell Medicine, said the findings could represent a turning point in HIV research. “The field’s been a little bit stuck,” he explained. “You get just a little bit of a gentle nudge with some of these vaccines, and it’s enough to coax some of these latent viruses out so they can be killed.”
Previous work, including a 2022 study led by Dr. Jones, showed that even COVID-19 mRNA vaccines could reawaken dormant HIV in certain individuals — further evidence of mRNA’s broader potential.
The safety of mRNA-based therapeutics, proven through their global rollout during the pandemic, could also help fast-track clinical acceptance. “mRNA will almost certainly have some adverse effects, as every drug does,” Lewin noted. “But side effects may be more acceptable to people living with HIV than having to take medications for the rest of their lives.”
Despite scientific advances, mRNA technology continues to face political and public resistance. Recent policy changes in the U.S. — including the Department of Health and Human Services limiting access to mRNA vaccines for pregnant women and children — reflect ongoing misinformation, some of it fueled by figures like Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has falsely claimed mRNA vaccines are harmful.
Still, researchers remain optimistic. “It’s not just therapeutically very powerful, but also for basic science,” said Dr. Muecksch. “It opens up a lot of avenues.”
With human trials still on the horizon, Lewin’s team plans to next test the approach in HIV-infected animal models. “This is a promising step,” she said. “But we still have a long road ahead.”
