Don't go playing "monkey see, human do" just yet - but researchers claim a gel containing antibodies to the AIDS virus protected nine out of twelve lady simians against infection...and they think this kind of product might (underline that, folks) work as a condom alternative for humans.
As published in the journal Nature Medicine, the project gives powerful ammunition to those advocates who have argued that this kind of "invisible condom" could be a useful way to help stop spreading AIDS, which Reuters estimates infects 36 million people around the world.
The "invisible condom" which reputedly stopped AIDS from spanking the monkeys was developed by university researchers John Moore of Cornell, Ronald Veazey of Tulane (Louisiana), and various colleagues in the U.S. and Britain, using one of the antibodies the human body makes naturally against the HIV virus, Reuters said.
The research team warned that the gel doesn't protect against all HIV strains but is "an important proof" of the idea. "These observations support the concept that viral entry inhibitors can help prevent the sexual transmission of HIV to humans," they said in their report.
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