Photographer Malcolm Linton and I spent much of March on a whirlwind tour of AIDS research in six countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Starting in the west coast city of Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire, we then traversed the continent to visit Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda. From there, we headed south, meeting with South African researchers on both coasts and in-between. Finally, we returned to the west equatorial part of the continent, traveling deep into Gabon.

Although we would have liked to have visited many more research projects in several other countries, our tight schedule forced us to concentrate on what we hoped would be a diverse, representative sampling of the problems HIV and AIDS have caused for Africans and the solutions sought by scientists working there, often under trying circumstances. This Web page features many photographs that appear in a special package of stories, "Ground Zero: AIDS Research in Africa," in the 23 June 2000 issue of Science. We have also included several photos that do not appear in the magazine. Accompanying each photo is a vignette that tells a story behind the story.

--Jon Cohen