Resistance to drugs is mainly caused by the HIV mutating to form a stronger strain. Researchers have now found a unique way of tracing different mutations, so that they can tailor the correct drug combination for the particular mutated strain. HIV reproduces very fast, but the new HIV are not exact copies and hence become very difficult to treat.

Researchers have come upon a unique method based on statistics, by which they can identify mutated clusters of HIV. They have taken HIV strains from people taking certain drugs and compared them with strains from people who are not taking any drugs. This clearly identified the virus which was escaping the treatment. Previous studies in this field was not able to clearly pinpoint the exact effect the drug was having on the mutations, but with this method the researchers are able to narrow down on particular strains which have mutated.

This method has also given scientists the ability to build more precise structural models so that they could understand the resistance to drugs from a molecular level. The method also provides an opportunity to study sequential order of mutations and the effect of the drugs.

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