New HIV battle plan

Like a general whose direct attacks on the enemy are not working, scientists are now trying to outflank the HIV/AIDS virus.

Having failed to develop vaccines that enable the body's natural immune system to battle the virus, researchers are widening tests on inserting a gene into the muscle that can cause it to produce protective antibodies instead.

The new method worked in mice and has now proved successful in monkeys, too, they reported this week in the online edition of the journal Nature Medicine.