Researchers One Step Closer to Infecting Mice With HIV

Researchers at the University of California-San Francisco are one step closer to successfully infecting mice with HIV, a development that could lead to widespread use of mice in HIV research, according to a study published yesterday in the journal Nature Cell Biology, AP/Long Island Newsday reports. Mice are the "laboratory animal of choice" for studying many diseases, but scientists so far have had to use chimpanzees and monkeys to study HIV/AIDS because HIV replication is blocked at several points in mice, according to AP/Newsday. In the study, the researchers were able to modify mice cells so that HIV-1 could replicate, Yong-Hui Zheng, a study co-author, said. However, HIV did not replicate in the mice to the extent that it does in humans, and "additional roadblocks likely exist," Zheng said, according to AP/Newsday. The researchers expect additional reports on the topic in coming weeks, according to AP/Newsday (Bridges, AP/Long Island Newsday, 6/29).