Drugs like AZT ward off the progression of the disease for a time but eventually lose their effectiveness probably due to more resistant viral forms beginning to flourish. The possibility that an ideal vaccine may be developed, one that is safe, effective and provides a lifetime of protection against all strains of the disease in a single dose may be viable sometime in the future at best. Nonetheless, the availability of an artificially acquired immunity in any form would be a momentous achievement even if periodic boosters were necessary from time to time or if the vaccine was specific to one strain only. The techniques learned along the way would most certainly advance vaccine development for other possible strains of HIV as well as other retroviruses. This represents a second promising avenue of treatment against HIV and other retroviral infections.
Viruses are obligatory parasites.
They require a host to reproduce and survive. These genes carry the instructions for the manufacture of certain essential viral proteins. This could result in the virus being totally or partially unable to reproduce or produce defective and harmless copies of itself. In order to get cells to alter their function, requires deliberately inserting the necessary genetic material into the cells. This is currently achieved by using experimental vectors, harmless viruses that can convey and insert the desired genes into the chromosomes of the cell.