Researchers have lately found dozens of broadly neutralizing antibodies (bNAbs) in HIV-infected people. Unlike their less capable peers, these relatively rare antibodies can neutralize most circulating HIV strains. But only about 20% of HIV-infected people develop bNAbs. What’s more, compared with their precursors in the germline, bNAbs accumulate a large number of mutations, or unusual structural features, to acquire their impressive breadth and potency—through a process known as affinity maturation that appears, in most cases, to take many years. 

Check out my Q&A with Peter Staley, the founder of AIDSmeds, about the early activism of AIDS Coalition To Unleash Power (ACT UP), which is the subject of the Oscar-nominated documentary, "How To Survive A Plague."

As a rule, scientific subcommittee meetings aren’t the sort of things people—even certifiable geeks—flock to unless they’re looking for a quick snooze on a workday afternoon. The US National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) AIDS Vaccine Research Subcommittee (AVRS) meeting, however, appears to be an exception. 

Check out our latest issue of VAX, which features articles on gene therapy research, results of a therapeutic vaccine trial and our most recent Primer. 

Check out our latest issue of VAX, which features articles on gene therapy research, results of a therapeutic vaccine trial and our most recent Primer.