Scienntists decoded HIV genome

U.S scientists decoded the structure of RNA virus – HIV (Which causes AIDS) genome which is structurally complicated by twisting itself into. This is going to give researchers a clearer view into how the virus attacks the human body and could lead to the development of new antiviral drugs. This research not only provides researchers to prepare antiviral drugs for incurable and often fatal AIDS-causing human immunodeficiency virus, HIV but also the viruses that cause influenza, hepatitis C, and the common cold.

The HIV RNA genome is huge, composed of two strands of almost 10,000 nucleotides each. Previously, scientists had managed to model only small regions of the HIV RNA genome. In recent studies by researchers at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill used specially developed technology SHAPE (to make an image not only of the RNA's nucleotide building blocks, but also of the complex folds of RNA strands) to analyze the architecture of HIV genomes and found that the RNA structures influence multiple steps in HIV's infection cycle.

"There is so much structure in the HIV RNA genome that it almost certainly plays a previously unappreciated role in the expression of the genetic code," study leader Kevin Weeks, a professor of chemistry, said in a news release. He also mentioned that The hallmark of HIV is its rapid mutation,'' “`Our study helps us to better understand how this happens, so we can learn how the virus attacks, replicates, evades and lies in wait.”
Current therapies only diminish and never eliminate the virus. If a patient stops taking the drugs, the dormant virus, which hides in a reservoir, is reborn. A cocktail of drugs helps to keep the virus at bay, allowing patients to live for 20 years or more after infection. The complete map of the genetic structure of the virus will help scientists develop more effective drugs to treat HIV, by stopping the replication of the virus; it may be possible to even attack the virus before it gets a chance to sit idling in the reservoir.