Although research continues to make progress, finding a cure for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) remains one of modern medicine’s greatest challenges. The virus can permanently insert its genetic code into human cells, creating dormant viral reservoirs that can evade detection and survive treatment.
Antiretroviral therapy (ART) can keep HIV from multiplying, but it doesn’t eliminate these hidden reservoirs. Once treatment stops, the virus can start spreading again. To tackle this problem, researchers at the University of California, Davis, tested an experimental antibody designed to target immune cells that HIV can infect in monkeys.