Biology 1001A Study Guide - Midterm Guide: Dna Polymerase I, Saint Wenna, Dna Replication
29 Sep 2017
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General global distribution of hiv infections: high frequency in sub-saharan africa. Reasons why hiv is more common in some parts of the world than others: healthcare, poverty, africa was ground zero. Factors that explain why no cure or universal vaccine has been developed for hiv/aids: retrovirus, rapid mutations, small genome (small target/binding site) Reasons why viruses are not considered (cid:498)alive(cid:499: don"t metabolize, can"t reproduce on their own, viruses target cells, so anti-viral drugs often harm the body"s cells too. Reasons why anti-viral drug therapies often have serious side effects. Major steps in life cycle of hiv: enter host cell, release contents into cell cytoplasm, reverse transcriptase to convert viral rna -> viral dna, transcription, translation to form new virions. Specific role of integrase and reverse transcriptase in retroviral life cycle: see above. Mechanism of action of azt: azt mimics thymidine to block dna synthesis (reverse transcriptase stopped)
