In the current state of the world, the Coronavirus has been #1 on the news and the #1 threat weighing on people’s minds. At least that is what the media portrays. But, down at the bottom of the major newspages, past the latest news regarding the virus and even the second most talked about issue, the presidential candidates, are stories that haven’t been gaining nearly as much attention; such as the articles regarding the patients that have been cured of another life threatening disease: HIV-1.

   Timothy Ray Brown and Adam Castillejo, previously known as the “Berlin patient” and “London patient” respectively, are the first people to be cured of the HIV virus. Brown was the first patient to undergo treatment in 2007 after being diagnosed in 1995. Years later in 2003 Castillejo was diagnosed in 2003 and began treatment in 2012. Fast forward to present day and the two have both been living HIV-1 free for years.”the things on the news right now like the coronavirus is important but I think they’re neglecting to tell people about other important issues that are happening. A cure for HIV-1 could save millions of people and yet nobody knows about it,” expressed junior Fallon Katz. 

   The treatment used to cure these patients is stem cell transplants. “Both patients were treated with stem cell transplants from donors who carried a rare genetic mutation, known as CCR5-delta 32, that made them resistant to HIV” (CNN). Despite there only being two confirmed cases this is a major breakthrough in the scientific community and provides hope for other patients across the world.