New hope for AIDS vaccine sparked

More than a thousand top scientists have gathered in Paris to discuss research on a vaccine against HIV/AIDS. The meeting comes amid new hopes that a vaccine against the virus is just around the corner.

Dr. Alan Bernstein, Exec. Director Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise, said, "I think what we can say now is that it appears this is really the first time, ever, that there is any hint that we can confer some level of protection in humans with a vaccine. I think if that holds up in the coming weeks and months of analysis, and further experimentation, that is a very important result, that's a first and it really opens a door, it's a proof of concept that a vaccine in humans is possible"

The conference will reconvene with more details on the results of the latest research. Data from the biggest ever clinical trial for an experimental inoculation, released in September by the Sanofi-Pasteur drug company, showed that a vaccine can provide some immunity to the HIV virus. One third of the subjects displayed signs of being protected.

Boxes of ashes with names displayed waiting to be claimed by their  relatives at a shrine at the AIDS hospice on the grounds of the Wat  Phra Baht Nam Phu Buddhist temple in Lop Buri, in January 2009.  An experimental AIDS vaccine has for the first time cut the risk  of infection in humans in what scientists Thursday called a  "breakthrough" in the quarter-century fight against the epidemic. (AFP/File/Nicolas Asfouri)