New research published today in a prestigious medical journal could someday lead to a vaccine against HIV.

HIV is the virus believed to cause AIDS. And researchers are trying to find out why some people are immune to it.

Scientists from the University of Alberta were involved in the research which looked at the link between HIV and a virus similar to small pox.

They discovered the two viruses act the same and that it was possible to prevent the virus from attacking cells.

One of the researchers is Alshad Lalani, a scientist from Calgary. He says, "it's a fairly significant discovery." But he says while researchers know that it's possible for people to develop immunity to the virus, they don't know how it happens. That will require more research.

The latest findings were published Thursday in the U-S medical journal, Science..

CBC Television's Julie Pithers spoke to the Calgary member of the discovery team.