An experimental gel that uses a popular anti-HIV drug to protect women from the deadly virus has been shown to offer some protection against HIV. The compound applied vaginally may be able to block the transmission of HIV.

Researchers from the University of Minnesota say the gel is already approved as an ingredient in cosmetics and medicines. The active ingredient in the gel that researchers hope to use in the fight against AIDS transmission is glycerol monolaurate or GML.

Research has shown that the compound affects immune responses and breaks the chain of events that let HIV spread through the body. As we know, the virus tricks the immune system to produce T cells, the white blood cells that the virus infects. Without these cells, HIV would lose power.

“We thought if we could modulate the immune response at the portal of HIV entry, we could block sexual transmission,” study researcher Ashley T. Haase explains. At the same time, unlike condoms, an effective microbicide would be something that women could initiate on their own.

According to UNAIDS estimates, there are now 33.2 million people living with HIV, including 2.5 million children. During 2007 some 2.5 million people became newly infected with the virus. Around half of all people who become infected with HIV do so before they are 25 and are killed by AIDS before they are 35.