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February 2005 Cover
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A single difference between a human gene and the one in rhesus monkeys that blocks HIV infection in the animals could offer both insight into the origins of the AIDS epidemic and a potential gene therapy, said authors of a study published last month. If humans had the
same gene, "we probably would never have had AIDS.
In laboratory experiments, it is much more difficult to infect monkey cells with HIV than to infect human cells. Something differed in the animal cells to block infection. A gene called Trim 5 alpha was found to be the reason. In monkeys, but not in humans, it stops
HIV from replicating. In substituting a human protein with a monkey protein, the team found they could make human cells HIV-resistant.
Editor's Note: from Reuters
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