By Caroline Parkinson
Health reporter, BBC News
Tiny changes to an "alarm" protein which responds to infections may explain why some with HIV can control their condition without drugs.
Around one in 300 people with HIV are "controllers", and scientists want to replicate how their bodies behave.
Writing in Science, US researchers say differences in five amino acids in a protein called HLA-B are key.
But a UK expert said there was still a "long way" to go before a vaccine or a new drug for HIV could be developed.
HIV "controllers" were first identified almost 20 years ago. They are able to suppress viral replication with their immune system, keeping viral load at extremely low levels, without using anti-retroviral drugs.
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