Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2008. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
| |
United Press International - October 8, 2008
TUCSON, Oct. 8 (UPI) -- U.S.-led scientists estimate the human immunodeficiency virus began spreading between 1884 and 1924, about 30 years earlier than prior estimates.
Led by University of Arizona Assistant Professor Michael Worobey, the researchers discovered the world's second-oldest genetic sequence of a strain of HIV known as HIV-1 group M. The sequence was recovered from a lymph-node tissue biopsy taken in 1960 from a woman in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The oldest known HIV-1 group M genetic sequence is from a 1959 blood sample of a man also from central Africa. The scientists said a comparison of the 1959 virus and the 1960 virus led them to conclude the genetic divergence between the HIV sequences required more than 40 years.
The researchers said they also used other HIV-1 genetic sequences to estimate probable rates of the evolution of the HIV-1 group M strain. According to their calculations, HIV began spreading among humans between 1884 and 1924 -- about the same time large urban population centers were being established in west-central Africa.
That, said the scientists, is also the region where the HIV-1 group M strain is thought to have emerged.
The study appears in the journal Nature.
On the Net: http://www.nature.com/nature
Reference: Direct evidence of extensive diversity of HIV-1 in Kinshasa by 1960 Nature 455, 661-664 (2 October 2008) | doi:10.1038/nature07390; Received 21 May 2008; Accepted 8 September 2008
081008
UP081006
Copyright © 2008 - United Press International. All rights reserved. Reproduced with permission. Reproduction of this article (other than one copy for personal reference) must be cleared through United Press International, Permissions Desk, 1510 H St. N.W. Washington DC 2005. Main Phone Switchboard: 202-898-8000 FAX: 202-898-8057 or 202-898-8147 Email: info@upi.com.
AEGiS is a 501(c)3, not-for-profit, tax-exempt, educational corporation. AEGiS is made possible through unrestricted funding from Boehringer Ingelheim, Bridgestone/Firestone Charitable Trust, Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, Elton John AIDS Foundation, the National Library of Medicine, Roche and Trimeris, and donations from users like you. Always watch for outdated information. This article first appeared in 2008. This material is designed to support, not replace, the relationship that exists between you and your doctor.
AEGiS presents published material, reprinted with permission and neither endorses nor opposes any material. All information contained on this website, including information relating to health conditions, products, and treatments, is for informational purposes only. It is often presented in summary or aggregate form. It is not meant to be a substitute for the advice provided by your own physician or other medical professionals. Always discuss treatment options with a doctor who specializes in treating HIV.
Copyright ©1980, 2008. AEGiS. All materials appearing on AEGiS are protected by copyright as a collective work or compilation under U.S. copyright and other laws and are the property of AEGiS, or the party credited as the provider of the content. .