Since the time the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) first swept into America’s social consciousness in 1982, HIV has been misunderstood. But research conducted with the support of supercomputer allocations from the eXtreme Science and Engineering Discovery Environment (XSEDE) and grants from the National Science Foundation (NSF) reveals a potential breakthrough in the way scientists pursue treatment—it’s all about the nanoparticles. A nanoparticle is microscopic and so small it exhibits size-related qualities. Most definitions specify that, to be considered nano, the particle must measure between 1 nanometer and 100 nanometers (for reference: a human hair is about 60,000 nanometers wide). Scientists are particularly interested in the properties and function of carbon-based nanoparticles called fullerenes, and researcher Jerzy Leszcznski and colleagues at Jackson State University through their XSEDE–NSF project titled “Multiscale Research in Nanotoxicity” have discovered that fullerenes block a key function of HIV. To read more, please visit https://www.nics.tennessee.edu/leszcznski-fullerenes.