Antibody infusions provide long-term defence against HIV-like infection

Specialized proteins can protect monkeys against the virus for months. The finding provides further evidence that antibodies — specialized proteins that the body produces to fight infections — could one day be used as a method to prevent people from becoming infected with HIV. “A caveat is that monkeys are not humans, but the model the authors use is about as good as it gets, and the results are a boost to HIV vaccine research and the use of passive antibodies as long-acting preventives,” said immunologist Dennis Burton of the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California, who was not involved with the work. Researchers have struggled to produce an effective vaccine against HIV, and the scientists behind this study say that administering periodic doses of antibodies might provide a stopgap measure while vaccine research continues. “This might turn out to be a seasonal alternative to a vaccine until we really know how...