The Human Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome

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The human acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) is a retrovirus that is found in two forms HIV-1 and HIV-2. The AIDS virus is a relatively new virus receiving attention in the 1980’s. As quickly as it swept through the world, was as quickly it went to epidemic proportions. Acquired immune deficiency syndrome is a virus that enters and infects the body through sexual activity with an infected party. AIDS is a very infectious and dangerous virus that causes the death of many humans. AIDS is characterized by two single stranded RNA and uses enzyme reverse transcription to integrate into the hosts DNA.
The AIDS virus is transmitted through sexual activity with someone that is infected with the virus. HIV has the most genetic diversity seen in viruses. HIV enters the immune system through bodily fluids from an infected party. Upon entering the body the virus (two single strand RNA strands) it replicates using reverse transcription to get into the DNA. HIV favors entering cells with the CD4+ receptor, which allows for binding. While just not obtaining the receptor does not make a person 100% less susceptible to the virus, it still allows the person to get the virus. The lack of receptor comes from ancestors that survived the Black Death in Europe. Their adaptation was passed on to their children and created a higher resistance to AIDS as well. After attachment to cell preferably with CD4+ HIV must now go into viral transcription.
HIV-1 and HIV-2 are two distinct forms of the virus, which stem from different origins in the evolutionary tree. The split between the two forms occurred over 150 years ago. Both forms of the HIV virus come from the simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) virus found in other primates. The two forms come ...

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...uld begin infecting humans. While the origins of the HIV-1 form of HIV is controversial and speculated through scientific research the origin of HIV-2 is more concrete.
The evolutionary history of HIV-2 originates from the strain of 〖SIV〗_sm found in Sooty Mangabey monkeys. HIV-2 is most likely to have originated in West Africa and remain most prevalent in that area as well. HIV-2 can be separated into six discrete phylogenic lineages. Each of the six discrete lineages is equally related to each other than it is to 〖SIV〗_sm.
The AIDS virus has the gift of replicative powers. The virus replicates at a very fast pace, and also has a very high mutation rate. Coupled together beating the virus is very hard, due to the fact that it is always evolving to fight the medications thrown at the virus. Every strain of AIDS within each infected human is distinct to them.

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