DR. DAVID HO: THE DISEASE DETECTIVE

(9 of 9)

There is still a long way to go, both in the quest for an effective treatment and in the search for a way to prevent infection in the first place. In the flush of the new optimism, some scientists are more hopeful about the prospects for gene therapy, which could possibly make the immune system impervious to HIV attack. Another promising line of research centers on a group of molecules called chemokines, which may one day be used to shield cells from HIV. Other scientists, including Ho, are intensifying their search for a vaccine. Two weeks ago, the nih increased its budget for AIDS-vaccine research 18%--to $129 million--and named Nobel-prizewinning molecular biologist David Baltimore to head the effort.

It has taken the collaborative work of thousands of scientists and physicians to get this far. It will take even greater cooperation and well-funded coordination to overcome the remaining hurdles. But the worst fear--the one that seeded a decade with despair, the foreboding sense that the AIDS virus might be invincible--has finally been subdued.

--Reported by Alice Park/New York and Dick Thompson/Washington

For more information, visit our Man of the Year Website at time.com/moy