HIV functional antibodies and ancient DNA insights: Inside Science overview

Inside Science presents a multidisciplinary exploration of a promising HIV functional cure using broadly neutralising antibodies, the climatic precursors to the Black Death, and new ancient DNA insights from Southern Africa that illuminate early human evolution. The episode also surveys space debris challenges, satellite photobombs in astronomy, and innovative plastic degradation chemistry, tying together biology, climate history, archaeology, and environmental science.

HIV functional cure and broadly neutralising antibodies

The episode opens with a detailed explanation of why the word cure for HIV remains elusive, focusing on how HIV integrates into the host genome and can lie dormant in cells. In trials, antibodies that recognise a broad range of HIV variants—broadly neutralising antibodies—helped some patients control the virus after the antibodies waned, a phenomenon described as a functional cure. Kate Bishop from the Francis Crick Institute outlines how these antibodies work by binding diverse HIV proteins and potentially flagging infected cells for destruction. The discussion emphasizes the persistent challenge of HIV's diversity within a single patient and the difficulties in producing and delivering these antibodies in real-world settings, especially in low-resource environments where cold chains and injections pose barriers. "Broadly neutralising antibodies are essential, but HIV mutates all the time, so the virus keeps moving the target is the core difficulty" - Kate Bishop (principal group leader, Francis Crick Institute)

Functional cure as part of a broader strategy

The conversation shifts to what a functional cure would look like in practice, highlighting that durable drug-free control is the aim rather than complete eradication. The dialogue also covers long-acting antiretroviral therapies that could replace daily pills, improving adherence and reducing transmission. The host and expert acknowledge the economic and logistical challenges of widespread antibody-based therapies, while underscoring the need for prevention and scalable solutions to curb new infections.

Ancient DNA and human evolution in Africa

Roland Pease introduces new ancient DNA results from Southern Africa, stressing that Africa harbors the deepest genetic diversity and that the southern region hosted early, isolated human lineages. Karina Schlebusch explains how ancient DNA, even when recovered long after the earliest humans, can reveal population splits, migrations, and the potential archaic admixture with hominin species in Africa. The discussion touches on how Khoisan ancestry diverged around 300,000 years ago and the implications for understanding where and how modern humans emerged, including comparisons to Neanderthal and Denisovan admixture in other populations. A key takeaway is that Africa’s genetic landscape is complex and multi-layered, with ongoing questions about archaic admixture in Africa and how these lineages contributed to modern human diversity.

Climate, plague, and interdisciplinary methods

The program revisits the Black Death through an interdisciplinary lens, linking volcanic eruptions in the tropics to European climate downturns via ice-core sulphur signals and tree-ring records. Historians corroborate climatic downturns with documentary sources, demonstrating supraregional harvest failures and famine that preceded plague spread. The conversation highlights how Mediterranean grain networks could import grain from the Black Sea region, inadvertently accelerating the spread of Yersinia pestis, the plague bacterium. The discussion illustrates the value of collaborations across geography, history, and economics to understand how climate and society interact in disease dynamics—lessons that remain relevant for analyzing modern pandemics and risk management.