The Nation - News from Jan. 19, 1989

A drug intended to stop the spread of the AIDS virus by mimicking the blood cells it usually infects has proven to be highly effective in experimental use on monkeys, experts report in today’s issue of the British journal Nature. The animal research provides the first clear evidence outside the test tube that this strategy has a chance of slowing and perhaps arresting the disease in people. Even if the treatment works as well in people as it does in monkeys, it will not cure AIDS. But it might make life better for victims of the virus.