Scientists say they have identified more than 200 proteins in the human body that help the AIDS virus multiply and spread. The discovery gives researchers many more possibilities for developing new drugs to halt the disease.
Scientists say HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, depends on proteins in the human body to fuel its growth.
Harvard University researchers published findings on Thursday saying they subtracted certain proteins from human genes before trying to infect them with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. By repeating the process over and over with different proteins removed, they came up with a list of proteins whose absence seemed to inhibit the virus's ability to replicate.
Scientists say developing drugs that interact with human proteins rather than on the virus itself could provide a way around the virus's tendency to develop drug resistance.
Some information for this report was provided by AP.
