Attaching to the cell. Entering it. Insinuating its genes into the DNA of cells it infects. Revving up its genes to reproduce itself faster, kill T cells and make it harder for the immune system to sense its presence and destroy it. HIV has genes that just weren't known before scientists started studying this virus, says Dr. Irvin Chen, director of the UCLA AIDS Institute. "They've been very, very heavily researched in the academic community," he says. Part of the future of HIV may depend on how thoroughly and rapidly drug companies exploit all avenues.

Just as there was a time when HIV experts thought today's antiretroviral drugs might cure people, there was also a time when they thought the immune system was incapable of mounting a good defense against the virus--and that pretty much anyone infected with HIV would eventually progress to AIDS.

no caption; no caption; no caption; no caption; no caption; no caption; Dr. [Alexandra Levine] of USC says that AIDS taught patients the benefits of closely monitoring medical care.; 20010604gdv6vcke; PHOTOGRAPHER: CLARENCE WILLIAMS / Los Angeles Times; GRAPHIC: Estimated HIV-AIDS Cases Worldwide; GRAPHIC: Life Cycle of HIV, Prevelence, Los Angeles Times