New research uncovers HIV replication method discovery

A study has shed new light on the way HIV replicates within the human immune system, which could pave the way for new treatment options.

Scientists from the University of Rochester Medical Center and Emory University have found that HIV strains hiding within macrophages are able to use rNTP molecules to self-replicate, instead of dNTP, the standard viral building block.

This explains the virus' ability to thrive within macrophages, which possess high levels of rNTP but low levels of dNTP, as well as its ability to resist current drugs, which only target dNTP.

When the team blocked HIV's ability to interact with rNTP, the virus' self-replication capacity was cut by more than 90 percent.

Researcher Dr Baek Kim said: "Perhaps we can use this information to help create a microbicide to stop the virus or limit its activity much earlier."

According to data from the Health Protection Agency, there were approximately 86,500 people living with HIV in the UK as of 2009.