While HIV is currently incurable, scientists at the University of Michigan Medical Center reported that a molecule found in bananas may one day be used to slow or even halt the disease’s progress.

The proteins in question are called lectins, according to research published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry. In clinical tests, they performed as well as two common anti-HIV prescription treatments.

The study’s authors said that the key to lectins’ ability to interfere with HIV infection comes from what they naturally bind to – sugars.

When introduced into blood in the laboratory, lectins attached themselves to sugar-based receptors on the capsid, or casing, of HIV pathogens.

Covered in lectins, the viruses could not gain entry to human cells.

Researchers concluded that lectins may eventually be used in microbicide gels and creams as a natural alternative to synthetic anti-HIV therapies.

Currently, more than 1 million Americans are HIV-positive. Every year in the U.S., more than 56,000 people contract the virus, according to statistics collected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.