It is estimated the 40 million people world wide are infected with HIV, this is a unimaginable amount of people who have no choice but to live with this Acquired Immunodeficiency. Simply because of the huge impact this virus has on the whole word, especially sub-Saharan African's, I have chosen to study and explain the cause in a simplified fashion:
HIV-1 is a lentivirus. A lentivirus is a slow acting virus meaning it has a long incubation period, and usually delivers a lot of genetic material into the DNA of the host cell. The HIV-1 virus consist of an RNA genome wrapped in a viral protein and a cellular membrane. HIV-1 along with other leniviruses, infects cells carrying the surface protein CD4 (using this CD4 molecule as a receptor). CD4 lymphocytes are part of the immune system that support other tasks, however CD4 receptors are found on a large range of cells, from the immune system to the brain. This is one example of the servility of HIV.
Once the virus is inside a cell with the CD4 receptor the virus then transcribes its genes from RNA to DNA, which is then slotted into the cell's genetic structure. The virus now has the power to make copies of its own genes, and order the cell it has infected to make proteins the virus needs. And that is how the lentivirus can reproduce its self.
In my next blog I will discuss relevant medical theories for HIV. Thank you for reading.
HIV-1 is a lentivirus. A lentivirus is a slow acting virus meaning it has a long incubation period, and usually delivers a lot of genetic material into the DNA of the host cell. The HIV-1 virus consist of an RNA genome wrapped in a viral protein and a cellular membrane. HIV-1 along with other leniviruses, infects cells carrying the surface protein CD4 (using this CD4 molecule as a receptor). CD4 lymphocytes are part of the immune system that support other tasks, however CD4 receptors are found on a large range of cells, from the immune system to the brain. This is one example of the servility of HIV.
Once the virus is inside a cell with the CD4 receptor the virus then transcribes its genes from RNA to DNA, which is then slotted into the cell's genetic structure. The virus now has the power to make copies of its own genes, and order the cell it has infected to make proteins the virus needs. And that is how the lentivirus can reproduce its self.
In my next blog I will discuss relevant medical theories for HIV. Thank you for reading.
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