After stripping the virus of all disease-causing genes, it can be used as a carrier of beneficial genes to treat genetic disorders such as Retinitis Pigmentosa, which is a type of blindness, Verma told the Science Congress here today.

``HIV is especially suited for gene therapy because it is able to infect non-dividing cells such as the brain or the muscle'', he said, adding that a single injection of the modified HIV carrying the gene for correcting blindness directly into the eye of a blind mouse was able to correct the disorder.

The HIV was also successfully used in animal studies to deliver genes to the liver, spleen and the brain, Verma told the Congress. ``The virus also helps the body produce Factor-IX whose absence leads to Haemophilia, a blood disorder'', he said.

Verma,however, cautioned that the application of such therapy in humans would require more studies.