Aids research - Review of vaccine failure prompts a return to basics

National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) called for a summit following the suspension of an international trial of a Merck AIDS vaccine, which failed to protect against HIV infection and may even have made some people more susceptible. The summit also considered another problem, the need for a predictive animal model. Participants agreed that the rhesus macaque system now used to test potential vaccines isn't working well. They would like to create more simian strains of the AIDS virus and develop standard testing protocols, as well as explore basic biology questions.