Genetics of both virus and patient work together to influence the course of HIV infection

A patient’s genetics may impact disease progression by inducing mutations in the HIV genome Viral and human genetics together account for about one third of the differences in disease progression rates seen among people infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), according to new research published in PLOS Computational Biology. The findings suggest that patient genetics influences disease progression by triggering mutations in the HIV viral genome. People with HIV experience different rates of disease progression. HIV progresses faster in people with a higher viral load — the amount of genetic material from the HIV virus found in an infected person’s blood. Previous research has shown that an infected person’s genetics and the genetics of their particular HIV strain both influence viral load. István Bartha of École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland, and colleagues are now the first scientists to investigate the relative impacts of human and viral genetics on viral load within...