They say prevention is the best cure. Well if the research team at the University of Alberta pulls that one off, then it'll mean a whole lot to humanity with regard to the fight against HIV.

Reportedly, the team has discovered a gene that is actually able to block HIV, in turn barring the onset of the disease. The said gene has been identified as TRIM22, which can block the infection in a cell culture.

Explains Stephen Barr, a molecular virologist in the department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, "When we put this gene in cells, it prevents the assembly of the HIV virus. This means the virus cannot get out of the cells to infect other cells, thereby blocking the spread of the virus."

They have also found that TRIM22 is an essential part of the human body's defense mechanism against the spread of HIV as they saw that interferon, a protein that coordinates attacks by genes like TRIM22 against viral infections, were rendered useless at blocking the infection.

Their research has now taken them to figuring out why this wonder gene does not work in people already infected with the virus, and if there is a way to make it work on those individuals.

We hope that our research will lead to the design of new drugs, or vaccines that can halt the person-to-person transmission of HIV and the spread of the virus in the body, thereby blocking the onset of AIDS.