The Telegraph today reports on a US study where experts created a molecular clone of infectious HIV and inserted a protein into its genetic code which glows green when exposed to blue light.
This allowed scientists to see the cells on digital video, and capture the way HIV-infected T-cells interact with uninfected ones:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/scienceandtechnology/science/sciencenews/5058131/Scientists-film-HIV-spreading-for-first-time.html
Twenty years of blogging in hindsight
6 hours ago
No offence, but this was a waste of time as it's no different to other retroviruses - as expected.
ReplyDeleteThe video shows the virus infecting only one cell, and doesn't show it being destroyed. It would have been interesting had they showed it infecting lots of cells, say over time lapse, and seeing these cells destroyed.
However even in lab studies, HIV is not known to kill T-helpers, so why should it in the body?