The biology of a shape-shifting virus
The genetic shield of natural resistance
Molecular scissors and cellular factories
The hiding spots and the latent reservoir
007skaty HIV Protease Scissors
Snip it clean, snip it clean / Chop those polyproteins clean.
007skaty Understanding how the virus fuses and releases genetic material helps scientists design drugs that block HIV from entering cells
007skaty Imperfect reverse transcription helps the virus mutate rapidly to evade the immune system.
007skaty Drag and splice viral blueprints to learn how scientists find an HIV cure.
Rapid mutation: HIV can mutate millions of times in a single day inside one person, making it a moving target.
Any of a group of RNA viruses that insert a DNA copy of their genome into the host cell in order to replicate. French researchers first isolated this rapidly mutating virus in 1983 while investigating the cause of AIDS.
Which year was the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) first isolated and identified by scientists?
What is the name of the main receptor on human T-cells that the HIV surface protein gp120 binds to?
What is the name of the enzyme HIV uses to convert its single-stranded RNA into double-stranded DNA?
Why does the error-prone nature of HIV's reverse transcription make it so difficult to treat?
Once HIV DNA is integrated into a host cell's genome, what is this dormant viral DNA called?
Which enzyme is responsible for splicing the synthesized HIV DNA into the host cell's genome?
What is the final step of the HIV life cycle where new viral particles leave the host cell?