stopping viral evolution.
"In principle, this makes it possible to offer everyone with HIV infection the chance of a normal life," Dr Siciliano added.

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Gene therapy offers new hope

Humans possess a gene which acts as a natural defence against HIV and which could lead to new treatments for Aids, scientists have found.
Professor Michael Malim, of King's College London, found that the HIV virus normally interferes with the operation of the gene - called CEM15 - by producing a protein called Vif.
But without Vif the CEM15 gene is able to effectively stop the HIV virus from replicating. Professor Malim said that it was already known that Vif plays an essential part in ensuring HIV replication, but before now its precise function had been unclear.
He said: "These are very significant findings, and could open the door to new treatments in the future. If we can find a way to block the action of Vif, it would allow CEM15 to work properly and prevent HIV from spreading."
Current treatments involve using a combination of drugs to target separate elements in the virus's life cycle, but do not lead to the total disappearance of the virus. Furthermore, the virus has developed resistance to some current therapies in almost half of patients.
However, because this new therapy enables the body to mount its own effective anti-viral defense, resistant strains might be less likely to develop.

T-20 - ready for widespread use?

Among the few major pieces of clinical news announced at Barcelona were the results from the large phase III trials of T-20.
T-20 - which we must now learn to call enfuvirtide - pronounced 'N-for-VIR-tide' - is the first of an

entirely new drug class, fusion inhibitors, to complete large-scale testing.
A far larger and more complex molecule than previous HIV drugs - which means it has to