AIDS was first clinically observed in 1981; however, in 1986 the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) was discovered to cause this disorder. Previously, HIV was practically a death sentence. Fortunately, in recent years HIV is now a livable condition.

But what makes this virus so much different from influenza or the common cold?

A virus such as influenza has a certain mode of infection. Upon entering a cell, the vesicle releases a couple of the virus’ RNA. This RNA then goes straight to a ribosome to be translated into proteins which will activate an immune defensive response.

HIV does not act in this manner, which is why it is so special.

HIV is a retrovirus, which is a whole other beast.

However, to understand how a retrovirus such as HIV works, the process of DNA transcription must be understood. When a cell wants to express a gene, the DNA needs to be transcribed to its complementary mRNA strand and chunked into codons, that codon sequence then is translated in a ribosome which produces a protein.

The specific process of transcription is started with an enzyme called helicase, which unzips the two genomic strands. This allows for the enzyme DNA polymerase III to attach at a starting sequence and start coding for the new complementary RNA strand.

So now that you have some context of DNA transcription, it will be easier to understand HIV. Once this virus enters the body and attaches to a cell, its vesicle releases the virus’ RNA along with an enzyme called reverse transcriptase. This reverse transcriptase is similar to the DNA polymerase III enzyme. Where DNA polymerase III codes DNA to RNA, reverse transcriptase codes RNA to cDNA.

This cDNA, disguised as the host cell’s own DNA, inserts itself into the cell’s DNA genome.

Here is where it gets bad…

Because this new “instruction” is inserted into the cell’s genomic sequence, whenever the cell replicates through mitosis, the virus’ gene is also replicated.

This gene is embedded in the cell’s genome, which is what makes this virus practically impossible to fully get rid of. To theoretically exterminate the virus, this inserted gene must be extracted from each infected cell, which in reality is pretty impossible considering that every time a new vesicle explodes, thousands of strands of new viruses are made through DNA transcription.

However, because of our greater understanding of cellular biology than when HIV was first discovered, antiretroviral therapy was created to stop HIV from spreading upon first infection.

Antiretroviral drugs allosterically inhibit the reverse transcriptase enzyme, which means that the shape of the enzyme is disfigured to where it will not attach to the RNA to code into cDNA. This helps minimize the virus from multiplying too rapidly. This will keep the virus count at a basal level, which is what makes it a livable condition. Additionally, this helps keep the body from getting secondary virus/bacterial infections due to the low immunity that HIV causes.

Today, research is being done to take advantage of HIV’s method of induction. By using deactivated HIV, genetic disorders in general could be cured by inserting the corrected genetic code for that specific mutated gene.

While these experiments are still in the animal trials due to ethical controversy, if it is passed by the FDA, this new gene therapy could revolutionize modern medicine in way that was never thought possible.