AIDS Resistance Genes :: Biology

The What AIDS researchers have recently uncovered a genetic trait that may provide protection against HIV-1. A "defect" that could account for unexplained cases of individuals that seem to have an immunity or protection against HIV-1. They are calling the trait an "AIDS Resistance Gene". What is an AIDS-Resitance Gene? This is just one of the questions our group inquired about when we began our investigations into the latest of AIDS research. AIDS Acquired immune deficiency syndrome, AIDS, is a serious disease that becomes more and more common in our nation and around the world. AIDS is defined by certain criteria established by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention based on lab evidence such as T4 cell count, the presence of certain diseases, and other conditions. WHAT CAUSES AIDS? This disease is caused by the virus known as Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 (HIV-1) (Structure of HIV), which attacks cells in the immune system, leading to the system's inability to resist harmful organisms. It damages the cells in the immune system, causing the body to lose the ability to fight off infections and diseases. During the course of infection, CD4 T-cells (a special type of infection-fighting white blood cells) are disabled and killed as their numbers decline. From 1981, when the first cases of AIDS were reported, through mid-1995, more than 476,000 individuals had contracted AIDS in the U.S. More than 295,000 of these individuals died. These numbers do not include those infected with HIV. Without symptoms of AIDS, nearly 1 million Americans have been infected with HIV through the mid-1990's. An estimated 19 million individuals world-wide have been infected with AIDS since the late 1970's. History Research has lead some to believe that HIV arose in Africa from retroviruses of monkeys. It is said that urbanization and the change in traditional lifestyles brought HIV-1 to the cities. It then spread to other parts of the world. However, it is proven that HIV-1 has been in circulation since 1959, because antibodies to HIV-1 have been detected in stored frozen blood samples taken from individuals in Zaire in 1959 and the United States in 1968. AIDS was first officially detected in the United States in 1981 in New York and California. In 1981 doctors found what they thought was a rare form of cancer called Kaposi's Sarcoma in many males. These patients also had signs of a type of pneumonia called Pneumocystits which occurs when one's immune system is not functioning well.