India, all of a sudden, has become infected with multiple sub-types of Human Immuno Deficiency Virys (HIV) . This is alarming news because distinct sub-type can fuse and create a new tyupe of virus. "There is a very real scare that this is eventually going to happen," warns Dr Nitin Saksena, senior assistant professor and head, Retroviral Genetics laboratory, Centre for Virus Research, Westmead Hospital, Sydney, Austria. Dr Saksena is in India for a project to identify the various sub-types of HIV and map their prevalence in the country: this work is being funded by the World AIDS Foundation ( a branch of WHO and UNAIDS) to prioritise the study of HIV infections in India and also to train scientists in various parts of India in diagnosing HIV at an early stage.