• Question: How does the HIV virus cause the human immune system to malfunction?

    Asked by harzard456 to Mike, Pip, Tianfu, Tim, Tom on 3 Jul 2012.
    • Photo: Tom Lister

      Tom Lister answered on 3 Jul 2012:

      A virus latches on to particular cells in the body and hijacks them to produce copies of itself. HIV happens to target cells of the immune system (like white blood cells and T-cells).

    • Photo: Philippa Bird

      Philippa Bird answered on 4 Jul 2012:

      It is really good at getting into the nucleus of these cells and replacing your DNA with its own, which makes your immune system stop working. A lot of viruses are simply a strand of DNA, which just goes wherever is near where it gets in (ie nose and throat) but HIV has a special protective shell and this shell has molecules on it which tell it which one the immune cells are and how to get to the nucleus. It’s a very clever virus which is why it’s so hard for us to treat.

    • Photo: Tim Stephens

      Tim Stephens answered on 4 Jul 2012:

      Great answers, guys!

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