Eliminating the latent reservoir through self-specific antibodies: HIV integrates itself into the DNA of human cells it infects. In evolutionary history, several different types of viruses have also integrated into the genome and become pat of the germ line, and their traces can still be found in our DNA. These ancient human endogenous retroviruses, or HERVs, can become reactivated when HIV infects cells, and the immune system can make antibodies against them. Dr. Nixon hopes that these immune responses can be harnessed to make a vaccine that could be used to specifically target HIV-infected cells for destruction.