Antiretroviral Therapy
Understanding the specific steps in the HIV replication cycle is critical in order for scientists to develop drugs that attack vulnerable stages within the cycle. HIV belongs to a unique group of viruses known as retroviruses , so named because these viruses reverse the usual flow of genetic information within an infected cell. Most viruses store their genetic material in deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), the double-helix structure that makes up genes. When a virus infects a cell, the viral DNA forms the template for the creation of messenger RNA, a type of ribonucleic acid. This messenger RNA directs the formation of specific proteins, and these proteins, in turn, build new virus particles (see Genetics). In HIV, however, genetic material is stored in two single-stranded RNA molecules. When HIV infects a cell, an enzyme called reverse transcriptase copies the genetic instructions in the virus’s RNA and moves it into the DNA. This movement of genetic information from RNA to DNA is the oppo