The Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) has a remarkable ability to evade our immune system. Efforts to understand the structural basis for this immune evasion have been challenged by the envelope glycoprotein’s (ENV) poor solubility and instability that have made it difficult to purify and crystallize. Research from a team at Duke University and the University of Chicago has provided new findings on the microsecond dynamics of the ENV structure that could jumpstart the next round of vaccine development.