Cow antibodies yield important clues for developing a broadly effective AIDS vaccine

Cows are leaving the pasture and entering the field…of HIV vaccine research. As outlined in a study published in Nature, lead author Devin Sok, Director, Antibody Discovery and Development at the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI), reports the elicitation of powerful, HIV-blocking antibodies in cows in a matter of weeks — a process that usually takes years in humans. The unexpected animal model is providing clues for important questions at a moment when new energy has infused HIV vaccine research. “One approach to a preventive HIV vaccine involves trying to elicit broadly neutralizing antibodies in healthy people, but so far the experiments have been unsuccessful, in both human and animal studies,” said Sok, the study’s first author. “This experiment demonstrates that not only is it possible to produce these antibodies in animals, but we can do so reliably, quickly, and using a relatively simple immunization strategy when given in the right...