Cured : The People Who Defeated HIV

"Nathalia Holt presents a thorough account of the research that provides scientists with hope that a cure will one day be achievable... and her empathy shines through in her prose. This is as important a social history as it is a medical document."--The Daily Beast Two patients--each known in medical history as the Berlin Patient--were cured of the HIV virus. The two patients' disparate cures came twelve years apart, but Nathalia Holt, an award-winning scientist at the forefront of HIV research, connects the molecular dots of these cases for the first time. Scientists are known to maintain a professional distance from those they study, but sometimes scientists are not just investigators, they are caregivers, too. Cured illustrates that even in the era of high-tech and big pharma, the way doctors and patients communicate remains a critical ingredient in the advance of this science. Holt offers a kind of hope that the thirty-four million people currently infected with HIV need and a story of ingenuity, dedication, and humanity that will inspire the rest of us.