Jan 06, 2009 - 11:33 AM - Unregistered? Register for a user account

Namibian Domains Registrar

  
Sponsors
Be Visable
Register your homepage FREE and get more people visit your homepage.

Register Domains
Register your in.na (In Namibian) Domain
www.in.na

Namibia DNS
Register your Namibia DNS
namibia-dns.com

Namibian Domains
Namibian Domains available now.
namibian-domains.com

Secure Online Namibia Domains
Register your Namibia DNS
online-namibia-domains.com 

Namibia Domain Administrator
Namibian Domain Administrators for ccSLD
namibia-dna.com  

Online
There are 3 unlogged users and 0 registered users online.

You can log-in or register for a user account here.

Science: Monkey Gene That Blocks AIDS Viruses Evolved More Than Once

Friday, February 29, 2008 - 07:23 PM, (205 Reads)
A gene in Asian monkeys that may have evolved as protection against a group of viruses that includes HIV has been identified by Harvard Medical School researchers, who add that their finding suggests the current AIDS epidemic is not a new kind of scourge.
The TRIM5-CypA gene found in Asian macaques is a hybrid of two existing proteins, TRIM5 and CypA. This combination creates a single protein that blocks infections by lentiviruses.

This is the second time a TRIM5-CypA hybrid gene has been identified in monkeys. The other o­ne -- TRIMCyp -- was found in South American owl monkeys in 2004. But it's not likely that these two gene combinations arose from a single common ancestor, the Harvard researchers said.

TRIM5-CypA wasn't found in monkey closely related to the Asian macaques and TRIMCyp wasn't found in any other South American primate species. This suggests that the two combination genes evolved separately, o­nce in the macaques and o­nce in the owl monkeys.

This development of similar genetic adaptations in different species is called convergent evolution. A prime example is the development of flight in bats and in birds.

The fact that adaptations involving TRIM5 and CypA occurred at least twice in primates suggests that this combination provided a strong evolutionary advantage, the Harvard researchers said.

It may be possible that the combination genes developed to prevent infection by prehistoric viruses related to modern HIV, they suggested. If this is true, it could mean that an AIDS-like epidemic is not unique to the current time, and such outbreaks may have afflicted the primate ancestors of humans.



Email to a friend Send this story to someone | Print this article Printer-friendly page
 Health
General

Namibian Information

Main Menu

Old Articles
Older articles

Login




 


 Log in Problems?
 New User? Sign Up!

Favourite FAQ

Domain names, domain name registration, domain, URL, internet domain registrar, register domain, buy domain, web address, websites, dns registration, domain registry, easy web hosting, internet domain registration, internet name, web domain names, Namibia, Christmas Island, Dominica, Kiribati, Mauritius, Norfolk Island, South Georgia, Timor Leste, Namibia domain, Christmas Island domain, Dominica domain, Kiribati domain, Mauritius domain, Norfolk Island domain, South Georgia domain, Timor Leste domain
. - . - . - . - . - . - . - . - . - . - . - .  - . - . - . - . - . -