Maybe Cyborgs Don't have to have viral infections

News in Science - Nano AIDS shield given a boost - 30/09/2004 :
Nanotechnology could provide a means of protection against HIV. An Australian biotechnology company has been granted US $5.4 million from the US National Institutes of Health for its research on a gel that prevents HIV infection of cells. The gel contains a synthetic molecule called a dendrimer that binds to the surface proteins of HIV and prevents it from infecting T-cells.

"Melbourne-based Starpharma is reaching the end of early phase human trials of the gel which is the world's first dendrimer-based drug to be used on humans.

Dendrimers are synthetic molecules which have been likened to nanoscale golf balls that act as molecular Velcro capable of targeting cells and pathogens.

The gel uses dendrimers like sponges to 'mop up' the virus.

'We're trying to slow down HIV to the stage where it can be dealt with by the body's immune system,' Starpharma development manager Dr Tom McCarthy said."