Our happy hour fact to amaze your drinking buddies with.

A protein found in bananas helps prevent HIV from entering the body.

BanLec, which is extracted from bananas, naturally encases HIV in a sugary-envelope. In doing so, it acts to stop the kind of viral intrusion that leads to HIV infection. In lab tests, BanLec was as effective in preventing the spread of HIV as two synthetic anti-HIV drugs.

The researchers who have been studying BanLec believe that if it can be made into a vaginal or anal microbide, it could prevent almost a million HIV infections yearly.

Or if they are able to figure out a way to harness its preventive power right from the fruit, it would provide a new twist on the old, "Is that a banana in your pocket?" line.