What is HIV

Question 1

What type of virus is it?

Answer 1

○ HIV is a retrovirus

- RNA nucleic acid 
- RNA-DNA-RNA replication 
- Invades and destroys T helper cells 
- Released by budding

Question 2

HIV Structure

Answer 2

While most viruses have DNA, HIV is a retrovirus which has RNA

Question 3

Mechanism of HIV Reverse Transcriptase

Answer 3

• Once infected HIV needs to convert its RNA using Reverse transcriptase into DNA
• It then incorporates into the DNA of the host cell

Question 4

HIV contents

Answer 4

□ Viral RNA
□ Reverse transcriptase 
□ Integrase 
□ Protease 
□ Docking glycoprotein GP120