Conclusion
When the cause of AIDS was first discovered in the early 1980s, it seemed that everyone was vulnerable. In this case study we’ve seen that infection by HIV is not a uniform trait in the population. Most people are infectable and no one is absolutely resistant; yet, some people show relative resistance to infection. The two mechanisms we’ve seen here, an effective anti-HIV immune response and a lack of the HIV CCR5 co-receptor, provide insights for research on treatments and vaccines. Perhaps we can’t develop a complete cure for HIV; however, treatments that allow a person to live with HIV are available and continue to improve, based on discoveries like these.

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