![This schematic of HIV life cycle summarizes years of research to understand HIV and get to a potential cure for HIV infection](https://www.promegaconnections.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/hivlifecycle3.jpg)
Scientists investigating the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) have learned much about the retrovirus’s lifecycle, but their ultimate goals were to discover a cure and prevent infection. In the decades since HIV was discovered, basic research and pharmaceutical drug development have expanded the antiviral toolbox, but these HIV treatments do not provide a functional cure, only manage the infection. However, two techniques may offer a potential cure for HIV infection using CRISPR and a possible vaccine using mRNA.