Video

Watch HIV Spread. Literally

hivspread

In an incredible piece of video, a team of scientists from UC Davis and the Mount Sinai School of Medicine managed to record the spread of HIV. They “created a molecular clone of infectious HIV and inserted a protein into its genetic code which glows green when exposed to blue light,” which is what you’ll see in the video. The HIV-infected T-cell literally “grabs” a healthy cell when they coming in contact, forming a “virological synapse” bridge to transfer the virus. Why is this significant? Because this means of transfer was never known, explains the Telegraph. “For decades it was believed that HIV was mostly spread around the body through freely circulating particles, which attach themselves to a cell, take over its replication machinery and make multiple copies of themselves.”

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