The Effects Of HIV Mutations On The Immune System

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The Effects of HIV Mutations on the Immune System

INTRODUCTION
The topic of this paper is the human immunodeficiency virus, HIV, and
whether or not mutations undergone by the virus allow it to survive in the
immune system. The cost of treating all persons with AIDS in 1993 in the
United States was $7.8 billion, and it is estimated that 20,000 new cases of
AIDS are reported every 3 months to the CDC. This question dealing with how
HIV survives in the immune system is of critical importance, not only in the
search for a cure for the virus and its inevitable syndrome, AIDS (Acquired
Immunodeficiency Syndrome), but also so that over 500,000 Americans already
infected with the virus could be saved. This is possible because if we know
that HIV survives through mutations then we might be able to come up with a
type of drug to retard these mutations allowing the immune system time to
expunge it before the onset of AIDS.
BACKGROUND
In order to be able to fully comprehend and analyze this question
we must first ascertain what HIV is, how the body attempts to counter the effects of
viruses in general, and how HIV infects the body.
Definition
HIV is the virus that causes AIDS. HIV is classified as a RNA
Retrovirus.
A retrovirus uses RNA templates to produce DNA. For example, within the
core of HIV is a double molecule of ribonucleic acid, RNA. When the virus
invades a cell, this genetic material is replicated in the form of DNA .
But, in order to do so, HIV must first be able to produce a particular
enzyme that can construct a DNA molecule using an RNA template. This enzyme,
called RNA-directed DNA polymerase, is also referred to as reverse
transcriptase because it reverses the normal cellular process of
transcription. The DNA molecules produced by reverse transcription are then
inserted into the genetic material of the host cell, where they are
co-replicated with the host's chromosomes; they are thereby distributed...