HIV gene is a mixed blessing for carriers

sea-maid submitted, created time 4 months 2 weeks (www.newscientist.com)

A GENETIC mutation common in African Americans slows the progression of HIV, yet paradoxically increases the risk of contracting the virus in the first place.

A clue that race-specific genes are involved in HIV came in 2002, when Sunil Ahuja of the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio and colleagues discovered a mutation in the CCL5 gene that accelerates the progression of HIV-1, the most common form of the virus. Though the mutation was found in people of all races, it only accelerated the disease in Americans of European descent.

Now Ahuja's team has found a possible reason for this disparity by screening the genes of about 3000 men, who comprised a range of ethnicities, some of whom had the CCL5 mutation. After following those who were infected with HIV for up to 15 years, the team discovered that a second, separate gene mutation, DARC-, ...

Keywords: DARC CCL5 blacks demographics race African Americans genomics genetics genes HIV