The Wire

The AIDS virus has killed millions around the world, but last week it was revealed that the virus has actually saved lives. An article in the journal Science reported that scientists in Europe used a modified version of HIV to treat two boys affected by a devastating genetic brain disease called ALD. The disease, which mainly affects boys, kills if left untreated. But scientists managed to slow the diseases by using gene therapy to fix the affected ALD gene, and then reinserted the gene into patients with the help of a modified version of HIV.