Good News From the HIV Vaccine Trial: The Success That Came From Failure

Last year the prospects for an HIV vaccine looked so bleak that some scientists began to talk about calling off the search all together. But today, the AIDS research community is reenergized—and surprised—by new data showing for the first time that a vaccine can partly stop transmission of the virus in humans.

Many in the community had not expected the vaccine to succeed, and they still don't understand exactly how it works. It's "a humbling reminder of how little we actually know," says Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, which helped fund the trial. But it's also the best lead the field has produced in a decade—and that means that instead of stopping the search for a fully effective AIDS vaccine, it's time to rev things up.

http://blog.newsweek.com/blogs/thehumancondition/archive/2009/09/24/good-news-from-the-hiv-vaccine-trial-the-maybe-cure-that-almost-wasn-t.aspx