Wednesday, September 9, 2009
What I find interesting about HIV
This semester I am also taking Evolutionary Biology and the first chapter of the text book deals alot with HIV. The thing I find most interesting about this disease is that some people are resistant from contracting HIV or take much longer to progress into AIDS. The reason is thought to be from an allele called delta 32. Persons that are homozygous with this allele are immune to HIV because this allele stops the retrovirus from binding to the cd4 cells of the immune system. I had no idea that someone could be immune to HIV. An individual that is heterozygous with the delta 32 have some resistance and cuase the progression of HIV to AIDS to take much longer or not at all. Knowing this give me some comfort because if our bodies can fight this disease then that gives me hope that we can find a cure. This is not the only thing I find interesting about HIV but it is at the top of the list.
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I found your post very interesting. If this is true, and became common knowledge I fear it would give some people a sense of false security and they would stop taking the necessary precautions.
ReplyDeleteMost of your blog seemed like a different language for me. But then again I am a social work major and biology was never my strong subject. I enjoyed reading your postive outlook on HIV it is usually the opposite
ReplyDeleteThe allele you speak of isn't found in great numbers among the human population. Testing for it would be a waste of time and money. It would also give people a false sense of security as HIV is learning how to circumvent this path way.
ReplyDeleteIndividuals who appear to stay in Stage 1 longer than normal are called long term non progressors. Again they don't know why some individuals are infected and then don't seem to head to the next stage for longer periods. It may be their CD8 cells that are providing them with additional time. Trust me when I say they are being studied extensively.
You can read up on this at:
http://www.thebody.com/content/treat/art42420.html
http://www.thebody.com/content/treat/art38783.html
http://www.thebody.com/content/treat/art48909.html
Even though the allele isn't in great numbers doesn't mean its not effective in preventing HIV in those individuals. I have to make a comment and say that looking at every angle for a cure to HIV is not a waste of time.
ReplyDeleteThis is extremely interesting. It is quite comforting to know that maybe with time we can find a cure. I had no idea that some people had a higher immunity to HIV. I would definitely like to hear more about this.
ReplyDeleteHi Joe, I am too a senior at UCF and I also don't live near UCF. I live in Gainesville which is an hour and forty minute drive to UCF, not round trip. I also find it interesting that people can be immune to this virus because I thought no one was immune from it. I also do feel comforted knowing that our bodies can fight it and perhaps there is a cure for this disease. I really wish though that there were one because to many people die yearly from AIDS and they don’t deserve to suffer even though a lot of them knew the risks they were taking in what got them the disease.
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