HIV Type 1
Electron micrograph of an HIV-1 particle
Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) is the virus that causes AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) in humans. HIV is a retrovirus and belongs to the lentivirus subfamily.
There 2 major types of HIV: HIV-1 and HIV-2. The majority of HIV positive humans are infected with HIV-1. HIV is closely related to the simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV), which can cause AIDS in certain species of monkeys. SIV infection of monkeys provides a valuable animal model for studying experimental vaccines and drugs.
For more details, see the links below.
- HIV and AIDS: 20 years of science, Fauci AS.
- Molecular epidemiology of simian immunodeficiency virus SIVsm in U.S. primate centers unravels the origin of SIVmac and SIVstm, Apetrei C, Kaur A, et al. J Virol. 2005 Jul;79(14):8991-9005.
- The role of the SIV model in AIDS vaccine research, Friedrich TC, Watkins DI. IAVI Rep. 2005 Apr-Jun;9(2):1, 6-8.