Underway since the 1980s, the search for a vaccine for HIV has delivered several encouraging leads, though no panacea. Now, bigger than ever data and computing power offers new approaches.
Vaccines are often developed from the immunity of recovered individuals. Molecules produced in the immune system response - antibodies - can be isolated and analysed and used as a basis for vaccine research.
However, HIV attacks the immune system itself, disabling the usual mechanisms that help a vaccine do its job. The few individuals worldwide who have been cured of HIV to date became well after undergoing stem cell transplants. Their immune system was dramatically altered in order for them to recover.
