Transplanting hope: echnobiopolitcs in experimental stem cell therapies for HIV cure

Author(s)

Kris Herik de Oliveira

• Document type: Doctoral Thesis
• Press: Campinas, SP.
• Institution: Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Instituto de Filosofia e Ciências Humanas
• Defense date: 2023-08-18

Examining board members

Daniela Tonelli Manica; Carolina Cantarino Rodrigues; Marko Synésio Alves Monteiro; Carlos Guilherme Octaviano do Valle; Rosana Castro

• Advisor: Daniela Tonelli Manica

Abstract

Over the last fifteen years, doctors and scientists have announced the first cases of "cure" or "long-term remission" of HIV through experimental transplants of stem cells with the genetic mutation CCR5?32/?32, which confers resistance to virus infection. The main objective of this doctoral dissertation is to develop a cartography of these technobioscientific experiments with stem cells for the HIV cure, from a socio-anthropological perspective. More specifically, the aim is to understand how cure is enacted in these contexts, in other words, how materialities are formed through narratives and practices that constitute multiple realities. In this process, the thesis identifies the agents, assemblages, and becomings that intertwine and surpass experimental therapies. Special attention is given to the body and its advancements. To achieve this, a diverse range of documents, including scientific, journalistic, and biographical materials, were collected, and critically analyzed through an "unarchiving" process. Thus, the research delves into various biotechnological landscapes that shape contemporary technobiopolitics, providing a modest witness of the continuities and ruptures in relation to the "paradigm of incurability" of HIV. It is observed that the initial cases of cure can be regarded as significant events in the trajectory of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, causing disruptions in established circumstances and sparking new controversies in the technobioscientific scenario. Despite the hope generated, stem cell transplants with the genetic mutation do not offer a definitive solution to the problem but rather represent a possibility, a path for the future. In this context, bodies are understood as gateways for ontological reconfiguration processes and unique connections, even establishing novel forms of kinship mediated by therapeutic technologies. Thus, the thesis explores the complexity of the "political economy of the HIV cure", which intertwines the past, present, and future of the pandemic in an increasingly molecular and individualized scenario (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 19/22295-9 - Experimental dispositives for HIV cure: agents, assemblages and becomings
• Grantee: Kris Herik de Oliveira
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate