Spliced HIV boosts vaccine quest.

The article reports on the simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV), a new model that could aid HIV research. It states that the new model, which was developed by a team led by virologist Theodora Hatziioannou, could steer succeeding vaccine trials, drug development and basic research into the virus. Accordingly, there are two main varieties of SIV being used by laboratories which include one from sooty mangabeys and a hybrid virus called SHIV, containing a cocktail of HIV genes spliced into SIV.