Researchers at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health, have discovered new information about how human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the virus that causes acquired immune deficiency (AIDS), possibly evades eradication from the body. In a study published in the August 16, 2004, Journal of Virology*, NCI HIV and AIDS Malignancy Branch scientists identified several possible gene targets and two drugs to flush out long-lasting HIV reservoirs that current treatments do not affect. They also established a connection between HIV and several other genes not previously associated with the virus and found new possible targets for blocking HIV replication.
