HIV and AIDS research for the 21st Century. Genetic, proteomic, immunological, environmental, and experimental differences ensure that experiments on animals can never fully capture the complexity of HIV or AIDS. Chimpanzees—once considered the gold standard for HIV research—were spared further use after the NIH’s 2015 moratorium. More recently, the CDC’s decision to close its monkey laboratories underscores the same truth: we don’t need these animals to do good science. The future of HIV and AIDS research lies in advanced, human-relevant methods: multi-omics, bioinformatics, in silico modeling, analysis of “HIV controller” cells, and better use of patient tissues and other clinical samples.
We owe it to those who fought—and to those still waiting for answers—to move beyond the past and embrace science that reflects the "human" in human immunodeficiency virus.
#HIVInnovation #HIVScience #StopHIVTogether
