Scientists Found that HIV Has Been Infecting Humans For More Than 100 Years

Posted by Alex in Medicine, Science & Tech on October 2, 2008 at 2:36 pm


Scientists studying decades-old tissue samples from African hospital samples have found a preserved specimen of HIV that let them estimate when the virus first evolved:

Using a technique called molecular clock analysis, they were able to plot the two viral sequences’ evolutionary path back in time to determine when they diverged.

They concluded the strains evolved from a common ancestor that emerged in Africa near the beginning of the twentieth century around 80 years before the disease appeared in western populations.

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6 comments to "Scientists Found that HIV Has Been Infecting Humans For More Than 100 Years"

  1. Lasse
    October 2nd, 2008 at 3:37 pm

    There goes the CIA-HIV conspiracy theory. :-)

  2. Justin
    October 2nd, 2008 at 5:04 pm

    Since when have facts gotten in the way of conspiracy theories?

  3. Sid Morrison
    October 2nd, 2008 at 5:44 pm

    Geez, I had the smart ass "how can this be when the CIA wasn't formed until 1947" comment all typed up before I saw Lasse beat me by 3 hours. I really need to stop going to work during the daytime.

  4. eugenics
    October 3rd, 2008 at 9:46 am

    ok i call BS

  5. ted
    October 5th, 2008 at 7:29 am

    I wouldn't call it BS. I would just say they extrapolated the age from two samples, which would give an approximate date. Could be right, could be wrong.

  6. Real Angeleno
    October 11th, 2008 at 6:45 pm

    Since when are web nerds so gung ho about the CIA? The CIA is responsible four COUNTLESS crimes against humanity, and will and would be the first to take the internet and twist it against anyone they deem a threat. So much for open minds on hte internet. It got all right wing up in here. And that study proves nothing. Ask the guys who had the bigfoot press conference last month.


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