A new method for diagnosing the AIDS virus by testing human immune cells has been approved by the Shanghai Municipal Science and Technology Commission.

The new method, known as CD4, is said to be cheap and easy to use. It was developed by a group of scientists led by a local pharmacist Cao Bo.

According to Cao, the CD4 human immune cell is the main cell targeted by HIV virus.

One million Chinese people have been diagnosed HIV positive since the country's first AIDS patient was reported in 1985.

(CRI November 23, 2003)