Give me a break

In 2013, two groups introduced the paradoxical and, at the time, controversial hypothesis that blocking antiviral cytokine signals can help clear chronic infections by reinvigorating T cells exhausted from non-stop inflammation. One of those groups has now bolstered that theory by showing its relevance to HIV, and is looking for ways to retain the antiviral effects while dialing out the mechanism that leads to exhaustion.

Moreover, a second study, published in the same issue of The Journal of Clinical Investigation last month, arrived at the same conclusion in a mouse model of HIV infection controlled by antiretrovirals (ARVs)...