Dr. Steven Deeks, an AIDS expert at the University of California, San Francisco, said the patient's sex and racial background in the latest case marks a significant step forward in the fight against HIV.

“The fact that she’s mixed race, and that she’s a woman, that is really important scientifically and really important in terms of the community impact,” Deeks told the Times.

Although drugs are available to cure HIV, scientists are still looking for methods to eradicate the virus. About 38 million people are living with HIV worldwide, while nearly 73% are receiving treatment. Most patients are not able to benefit from a bone marrow transplant, a risky method that is generally offered to people who have run out of options.

Timothy Ray Brown and Adam Castillejo, the two other people to ever be cured of HIV, received bone marrow transplants from donors who carried a mutation that blocks HIV infection. The mutation, which has been found in about 20,000 donors, mostly comes from people of Northern European descent.

Brown and Castillejo faced serious side effects after receiving the transplants. Brown, who was virus-free for 12 years, died in 2020 of cancer. Castillejo lost nearly 70 pounds in the year after his treatment. He also developed a hearing loss and battled multiple infections.

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