Fighting Fire With Fire in HIV Infections

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego have proposed a novel treatment for people infected with the AIDS virus. Rather than attempt to destroy the virus itself, they've instead suggested patients be injected with a stripped-down, harmless version of HIV. By placing HIV in competition with another virus for the same resources, they hope to slow the onset of AIDS by another 5-10 years.

The treatment isn't without risks, as it ultimately relies upon a rapidly evolving virus to fight another rapidly evolving virus. Animal trials will have to follow.

“The concept and computational model are intriguing, but I’d like to see a clear demonstration of this in animal models,” said computational biologist Allen Rodrigo of Duke University, who wasn’t involved in the study. “So far, it has been almost impossible to design a strategy that HIV can’t escape from.”