Could your race make you more likely to develop the virus that causes AIDS? Shocking new research finds African-Americans may be more susceptible to HIV because of a trait in their genes.

It's a wake up call for the 40-million Americans whose ancestry is linked to Africa. Medical researchers now say race is relevant in the development of HIV. The study of more than 12-hundred military workers finds African-Americans have a genetic trait that protects against a form of malaria, but increases the risk of HIV.

Dr. Bartlett of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine says the research offers valuable insight. While African-Americans make up 13 percent of the U-S population, they account for nearly half of HIV and AIDS cases. For years, researchers have been trying to understand why some people who are repeatedly exposed to HIV, don't get infected. These findings may provide some answers.

The scientists discovered the genetic trait is found in 60 percent of African-Americans and 90 percent of Africans, boosting the risk of infection by 40 percent. One interesting finding is that people with HIV who have this genetic trait appear to live on average two years longer than HIV positive people who don't have the trait. The trait could be responsible for eleven percent of the HIV cases in Africa, which has been hardest hit by the AIDS epidemic.

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