The scientists, from the Heinrich Pette Institute in Hamburg and Nuremberg-Erlangen University, said that they could "block the multiplication of HIV-1" by neutralising a protein called DHS, or deoxyhypusine synthase.

The team, led by Ilona Hauber, said in a statement that they had been able to "block resistant strains of HIV for which a whole range of antiretroviral treatments have had no effect."

"Contrary to conventional therapies which block the virus's proteins, this new strategy is based on neutralising a human protein which is important for the virus to multiply," the statement said.

The discovery is also announced and detailed in the January edition of the US scientific magazine Journal of Clinical Investigation.

Nearly 40 million people today are living with AIDS or the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) which causes it.

Antiretrovirals cannot cure the disease but suppress the ability of HIV to replicate, allowing people living with it to lead better lives.