Researchers use math to identify better methods for HIV treatments

While there are antiretroviral drugs that may help reduce an individual's symptoms of HIV and prolong the amount of time that they can live with the virus before developing AIDS, there are currently no available medications that can rid the body of HIV entirely.

However, the Wall Street Journal recently reported that scientists are using a mathematical method called the random matrix theory - commonly used in the stock market - to uncover which specific amino acids in HIV cells are the most likely to be destroyed by the body's immune system or HIV drugs.

The news provider said that one of the main barriers to a cure for HIV is that the virus undergoes constant mutations in order to avoid being eliminated. However, if scientists can devise specific treatments to trap the so-called weak amino acids, this would inhibit them from changing their characteristics and thereby disrupt the function of the entire virus particle.

As of now, the random matrix theory has identified an area of the virus proteins called sector 3 as a weak link, the news source explained.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 1.1 million Americans are living with HIV.