No, there is no cure yet for infection with HIV, or human immunodeficiency virus. In fact, despite multiple reports of individuals having been cured of HIV infection, the virus has been eliminated from only one or two people thus far. One of these individuals, Timothy Ray Brown, underwent intensive chemotherapy, radiation, and bone marrow transplantation for leukemia—a combination of treatments that would be impractical and risky for HIV-infected persons without cancer.
Nonetheless, Brown’s case has remained a source of inspiration in the hunt for a cure. Of particular interest has been the use of stem cell transplantation to replace HIV-infected immune cells. Other approaches that have shown promise in animal studies include altering the immune system to more effectively deal with HIV, activation of HIV followed by treatment to kill the virus as a means of eliminating HIV from tissue reservoirs, and gene editing to remove HIV genetic material from immune cells.