On Apr. 29, 2020, Scripps researchers announced they had developed a method for examining the machinery of HIV in unprecedented detail; and in a near-native environment that hasn’t been possible before. They were able to see for the first time the complete picture how a well-known human antibody attacks a vulnerable site protruding from HIV’s sleek membrane surface

The study, which was published in Cell Reports, looks specifically at HIVﾒs fusion proteins; these spiky proteins are in charge of initiating infection of healthy immune cells in a patient’s body.