Florida Atlantic University May 13 2025 In a groundbreaking discovery, researchers from Florida Atlantic University's Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine have identified a never-before-seen mechanism that enables the human immunodeficiency type 1 virus (HIV-1) to evade the body's natural defenses and use it to support its survival and replication. The "loophole?" A biological process that involves circular RNAs (circRNAs), which form a "loop" or circle inside cells – unlike regular RNA