Everybody has heard about The Berlin Patient: the first man to be cured of AIDS. But you should also know the doctor behind the cure, the pioneer behind the novel procedure: Prof. Gero Hütter. Being an important figure in the field of hematology, Prof. Hütter’s areas of research also include oncology, infectious diseases, stem cells and HIV. Prof. Hütter made history by performing a bone marrow transplant on the leukemic and HIV infected patient, thus curing him of the latter illness. 

The procedure involved a stem cell transplant from a donor with a rare genetic mutation known as CCR5 delta 32 that results in missing CCR5 co-receptors on T cells. These co-receptors are the gateway most types of HIV use to infect cells. By essentially replacing the patient’s immune system with one resistant to HIV, Prof. Hütter aimed to eradicate the virus from the body entirely. Although the treatment was not without its risks and hardships, it proved to be successful. In the years that followed, the Berlin Patient remained free of HIV without the need for antiretroviral therapy.