New study reveals method of disarming HIV

A team from Imperial College London and Johns Hopkins University have developed a new method of preventing HIV from causing damage to the immune system.

The innovative study, results from which have appeared in the journal Blood, has found that removing cholesterol from the virus's membrane can prevent it from triggering the immune system's plasmacytoid dendritic cells.

Under normal circumstances, this process causes the body's natural defences to have a prolonged and harmful overreaction, thereby weakening adaptive immune response.

However, without this cholesterol, HIV can no longer cause harm but can still be recognised and fought by the immune system, a discovery that could aid the creation of new vaccines.

Dr Adriano Boasso from Imperial College London said: "It's like an army that has lost its weapons but still has flags, so another army can recognise it and attack it."

Earlier this week, a US study used the analytical abilities of videogame players to decode the structure of a retrovirus enzyme that could offer new insight into how HIV and Aids spreads.