MARCH 2, 1985, MARKED A turning point in the AIDS epidemic. On that date, Irwin Memorial Blood Bank in San Francisco received a shipment of HIV antibody tests, the first such tests to be publicly released in the United States. Within days, blood banks and plasma centers nationwide had received their test kits. The test could not detect AIDS or even the presence of the AIDS virus. What the test could do is indicate the presence of HIV antibodies, which are the one sure sign of HIV infection. Today's tests perform the same function.

The antibody test represented an important breakthrough in the slow-moving search for ways to protect the public from the devastating AIDS virus. Author and journalist Randy Shilts explains its significance:

From now on, the chances of contracting AIDS through blood transfusion were effectively eliminated or, at last, were...