A recent experiment further supports theory that sexual orientation is a quality someone is born with, not learned.

Researchers say that the sexual area of a gay man's brain works a lot like that of a woman when exposed to a particular stimulus

After being pricked with a diabetes-testing needle by a classmate, 19 elementary school students are taking drugs to fight the HIV virus - one student has already tested positive.

According to authorities, the child who tested positive for the HIV virus could not have contracted the disease from the needle

Wales, UK (AHN)- A tiny microscope, that is the width of a human hair, has the potential to redefine medical technology and the examination of biological samples. Cardiff University researchers said the optical biochip could help doctors test for diseases and develop new drugs. The team wants to further integrate the biochip into present day medical technology, such as diagnostic equipment. In theory, the biochip could detect diseases such as HIV, malaria and some cancers, or aid drug development by analyzing how a cell reacts to a substance. The biochip works by emitting tiny lasers, which analyze a cell. Biological samples can be placed on the biochip - just visible to the human eye-which then relays what it finds via an electrical signal. Lead researcher Professor Paul Smith believes that the future of medicine can be realized through technological breakthroughs such as the biochip. "Our research could help revolutionize how we examine biological samples...future generations may be able to use these as the basis for hand-held system that will be able to perform diagnostic functions in the field that currently require a laboratory test

United Nations AIDS chief predicts a vaginal gel that protects women from contracting HIV during intercourse could be ready in as little three to four years. According to UNAIDS chief, Peter Piot, a gel designed to prevent transmission of the HIV virus during sex is the best development next to an actual AIDS vaccine - which is nowhere near discovery. The microbicide would come in the form of a gel or an ovule that's put in the vagina before intercourse and immediately kills the virus upon contact. Piot compared it to a contraceptive spermicide. Researchers have been working on an AIDS vaccine for over 20 years. Only one has undergone a large-scale clinical trial, only to prove unsuccessful. Currently, two candidate vaccines are undergoing human trials in Thailand and the United States. Nearly half the 39.4 million people infected with HIV worldwide are female. Three-quarters of all HIV-positive women live in sub-Saharan Africa. About 57 percent of the adults with HIV are women

Member of The United Nations Population Fund hope the new pope will reconsider the Catholic Church's current stance on contraception in order to prevent the spread of AIDS. Throughout the 26 years that Pope John Paul II held the thrown over the Catholic Church, Western health campaigners often criticized him for his views on contraceptives - believed to be the most preventive measure to the spread of AIDS, not counting abstinence. Pope John Paul II, while a strong supporter of human rights and social justice, condemned contraception as a means of fighting the AIDS epidemic. He offered an alternative: abstinence and marital fidelity in the face of opposition from liberal Catholics. The U.N. Population Fund is the biggest international source of funds for programs to avoid sexually-transmitted infection, improve health care in pregnancy and child birth, and help with family planning and unwanted pregnancies in developing nations. The Fund's director, Thoraya Obaid, is hopeful that the new pope will consider the recent developments in contraception and its effect on the prevention of the deadly HIV virus. "There has been a beginning of an opening, especially on HIV/AIDS and the use of condoms for prevention of infection. We are hoping the new pope will take this message further, because it makes no sense sending people to their death