A team of Houston doctors discovered how to destroy HIV in the lab and in animal tests by infusing "a section of a key protein in HIV’s structure that does not mutate" with an "abzyme," a naturally-occuring substance that, per my googling, derived its name from having both enzyme and antibody properties. Most importantly:
A single abzyme can destroy thousands of HIV viruses.
Here are some excerpts from the article about the Houston breakthrough:
Houston doctors say they may have found a way to destroy HIV
"We have found an innovative way to kill the virus by finding this small region of HIV that is unchangeable," Dr. Sudhir Paul of the University of Texas Medical School at Houston said.
That Achilles heel is the doctors’ way in. They take advantage of it with something called an abzyme.
It’s naturally produced by people, like lupus patients. When they applied that abzyme to the HIV virus, it permanently disarmed it.
The theory has held up in lab and animal testing. The next step is human trials.
"This is the holy grail of HIV research, to develop a preventative vaccine," Paul said.
As the doctors say in the article, getting this research into a human clinical trial and on to a vaccine is the crucial next step.