HIV Genome Decoded

Researchers at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill report that they have successfully decoded the entire HIV genome, a breakthrough that may lead to new antiviral therapy.

"We are beginning to understand tricks the genome uses to help the virus escape detection by the human host," said Kevin Weeks, a professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the study's main architect. Like the viruses that cause influenza and hepatitis C, HIV carries its genetic information in single-strand RNA rather than the double strand DNA found in all living organisms and certain viruses. This make is more difficult to decode because, unlike DNA, RNA is able to fold itself into intricate, three-dimensional patterns. Earlier studies have succeeded in modeling small regions of the HIV genome, which consists of two strands each containing nearly 10,000 nucleotides, the basic molecular building blocks of both DNA and RNA. Using a new technique, Weeks and colleagues produced images which, while lower in resolution, spanned a much larger area. The study, published in the British journal Nature, should help scientists discover ways in which the RNA genome determines the lifecycle of the HIV virus.

Other researchers applaud the achievement, saying this "aerial view" of the virus will allow scientists to understand its workings at the atomic level.