HIV testing kit, 1980s. In 1985, months after scientists identified the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) as the cause of acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)'s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research licensed the first commercial blood test capable of detecting antibodies to the virus. Over the next decade, the risks of contracting HIV through blood transfusion fell from one in 2,500 to one in 500,000.