That sounds like exactly what you don’t want, but in fact part of the problem in HIV infection is that there are always latent copies of the virus: viral genome copies inserted into the DNA of cells that are not actively producing virus particles. Those copies are pretty much immune to any protein-target-based therapy, so even when you get the viral titer down below measurable levels, you can still be certain that you *haven’t* eliminated the virus from the patient’s body. This is largely the reason why patients cannot stop HAART once their CD4 counts get back to normal.

One of the long-running Big Questions in HIV medicine is how to get these latent copies to reveal themselves without provoking a dangerous rebound viraemia. Having identified the components of the system that enables latency, perhaps we can more effectively manipulate that process and find a real, final, permanent cure. (Don’t mind me, I used to work on HIV molecular biology.)