Human Immunodeficiency Virus

3D Model

Human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) infect cells of the immune system. They establish lifelong infections that are currently extremely hard to cure. Left untreated, HIV can eventually severely weaken the immune system, causing acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) in which people become extremely vulnerable to opportunistic infections and cancers. However, combinations of antiviral drugs, targeting multiple components of HIV, can now be used as a very effective treatment, preventing HIV from causing symptoms or from being transmitted to other people.

Researchers combined information from a wide range of sources to build a detailed model of a virus particle produced by the HIV-1 species of HIV (Johnson et al. (2014); doi: 10.1039/c4fd00017j). Adapted for SketchFab by Rachael Suétt, working with researchers at the MRC-University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research and The Glasgow School of Art. We thank Dr Ludovic Autin (Scripps Research Institute) for his help and advice in converting the model.