Well, as you know by now, I'm kind of nerd for the medical/scientific stuff, and today's post will be no different. Before you click on the video below, let me explain to you what it is you're seeing. The green cell is a molecular clone of infectious HIV, with a protein encoded into its makeup that glows green under blue light. What's the significance? This is the first time scientists have actually been able to see how it is that HIV transfers itself from cell to cell. Previously it was thought that it was just a free transfer, HIV floating willy-nilly through the bloodstream and attaching on to poor unsuspecting T-Cells. In fact, it seems the main method is that the HIV infected cells create a bridge called a "virological synapse" to basically inject the host cell with the virus. Here's what it looks like:

So what does this mean for HIV/AIDS research? It means that now scientists can look at medications or vaccines that prevent the formation of these synapses in the first place, rendering the virus inert, or possibly this provides a starting point to research what happens once the virus has been introduced to the host cell via the virological synapse.

If you're interested and want to know more, you can find the article in its entirety here.

Also, if HIV/AIDS research is something that you are particularly interested in, here are two more articles that are a bit older, but might be of interest to you:

The first discusses a study done on the variations of HIV and the human response to it, and how quickly those have been changing and adapting. More specifically, that HIV is adapting to our immune systems faster than we can build defenses against them. What does that mean in the medical sense? That any vaccine we create will have to be changed often to keep pace with a dangerous disease that is all too good at keeping itself alive.

The second is an article of a lighter note, in which a man received a stem cell transplant, and is now free of HIV. This does not necessarily indicate that stem cells can cure HIV, rather it gives a new direction for testing and research. In this particular case the stem cell donor was chosen for a natural genetic anomaly in which their T-Cell CCR5 receptors were apparently crippled, which are the receptors that HIV latches on to. There are other forms of HIV which do not use those receptors, but surprisingly according to the article the patient was entirely free of HIV after the procedure.

While none of these articles indicate the end of a disease that's killed some 25 million people already, they do show the promise that research is moving forward, and hope is still out there for a cure or vaccine.

UPDATE: Well, it looks like the first article I linked in this post has gained popularity, and spurred an increase in HIV research-related articles. Namely, these two popped up today:

This article from Technology Review shows three new films from the study done in New York, and further discusses the implications of the discovery. An interesting read, if a little science heavy.

This article from the BBC spotlights the effect HIV/AIDS has on South African communities, namely the children who must care for their parents as they suffer from the disease. Definitely a poignant read, and one that outlines the huge obstacles we face as a global community in eliminating HIV/AIDS.