Research news: HIV's genetic footprint shows it's a century old

The News:
HIV's genetic footprint shows it's a century old
Study ties its emergence to rise of cities in Africa
By Malcolm Ritter The Associated Press
Article Launched: 10/02/2008 12:30:00 AM MDT
NEW YORK — The AIDS virus has been circulating among people for about 100 years, decades longer than scientists had thought, a new study suggests.
Genetic analysis pushes the estimated origin of HIV back to between 1884 and 1924, with a more focused estimate at 1908.
Previously, scientists had estimated the origin at around 1930.
AIDS wasn't recognized formally until 1981 when it got the attention of public health officials in the United States.
The new result is "not a monumental shift, but it means the virus was circulating under our radar even longer than we knew," said Michael Worobey of the University of Arizona, an author of the new work.
The results appear in today's issue of the journal Nature.
Researchers note that the newly calculated dates fall during the rise of cities in Africa, and they suggest urban development may have promoted HIV's initial establishment and early spread. Read on...


The Research:
Read the research behind this story in the journal Nature.