HIV gene therapy treatment and Berlin Patient

Researchers like what they've seen so far from a new HIV gene therapy treatment.
From Reuters:

An early stage trial of Sangamo BioSciences Inc's HIV treatment found that the gene therapy reduced levels of the virus and even eliminated it in one patient with a naturally occurring gene mutation.

Reuters notes that the trial only consisted of 10 patients, but if the treatment is shown to be safe and effective in further tests, it could eliminate the need for antiretroviral drugs now used to fight HIV.
Last year a Berlin man made headlines when he was cured of HIV after receiving a blood transfusion. Science Now notes that the blood donor had a mutated version of a receptor the virus uses to enter cells. The latest research builds on this discovery by employing gene therapy that uses the same strategy for thwarting HIV.
Science Now writes that researchers don't expect the new treatment to completely eliminate HIV. They hope it can contain the virus "to such a powerful extent that people no longer need antiretrovirals."
Bloomberg reports the most common side effect cited in the gene therapy study was a persistent smell of garlic.
Background on the Berlin Patient:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mu-Yj7k0ToI]
On the heels of World AIDS Day comes a stunning medical breakthrough: Doctors believe an HIV-positive man who underwent a stem cell transplant has been cured as a result of the procedure.
Timothy Ray Brown, also known as the "Berlin Patient," received the transplant in 2007 as part of a lengthy treatment course for leukemia. His doctors recently published a report in the journal Blood affirming that the results of extensive testing "strongly suggest that cure of HIV infection has been achieved."
Brown's case paves a path for constructing a permanent cure for HIV through genetically-engineered stem cells.
Time named another AIDS-related discovery to its list of the Top 10 Medical Breakthroughs of 2010. Recent studies show that healthy individuals who take antiretrovirals, medicine commonly prescribed for treating HIV, can reduce their risk of contracting the disease by up to 73 percent.
While these developments by no means prove a cure for the virus has been found, they can certainly provide hope for the more than 33 million people living with HIV worldwide. Alongside such findings, global efforts to combat the epidemic have accelerated as of late, with new initiatives emerging in the Philippines and South Africa this week.