7. POTENTIAL BENEFITS 
This phase 1 study is not designed to achieve immune reconstitution or definitive 
therapy of HIV disease. However, infusion of some CD4 + lymphocytes resistant to 
productive HIV infection could have a beneficial effect on the course of HIV disease. Since 
stem cell transduction is not the goal of the current project, the possibility is negligible 
that circulating stem cells could be transduced during this protocol and give rise to a 
persistent in vivo clone or clones of HIV-1 resistant lymphocytes. However, the 
potential benefit to future patients of optimizing ribozyme gene therapy for HIV 
infection and other diseases is enormous. 
8. RISK-BENEFIT RATIO 
Although a few long-term (more than twelve years) healthy survivors of established 
HIV infection have been reported, this condition is virtually always relentlessly 
progressive and fatal. The risks involved are discussed above and are small but finite. 
The potential knowledge gained (which in the absence of a good animal model for the 
disease can be gained in no other way) is tremendous. Therefore the risk-benefit ratio 
appears quite favorable. 
9. EXPENSE TO SUBJECTS 
No additional expense will be incurred by subjects participating in this study. This study 
will not provide routine medical care. 
10. INFORMED CONSENT 
The investigating physicians will carefully explain the study's goals, risks, potential 
discomforts and limitations to each prospective subject. After the patient has had at least 
one week to read the consent form, ask questions of the study physicians and consult his 
or her family, other physicians or sources of advice as he or she wishes, a signed, 
witnessed consent form will be obtained by an investigating physician. Recruitment of 
subjects will be through referrals based on individual physician-patient encounters in 
the UCSD system. No written advertising for patients is contemplated. The consent 
document includes a request for autopsy at the time of the patient's death. 
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Recombinant DNA Research, Volume 18 
