February 25 (Wednesday) -- Federico Hoffmann (Biological Sciences, Orti Lab)

Tracking changes in HIV within patients

We are trying to gain insights into the evolution of HIV by tracking changes
in a 1Kb fragment of env within patients. Our goal is to implement some of
the approaches being developed in phylogenetics and population genetics to
better understand how the virus changes. In particular, we are in the
process of implementing analytical approaches that consider recombination.
The study focuses on children from Zambia, who have not received therapy,
and are mostly infected with HIV1 subtype C. One of our short-term goals is
to compare variation in patients that develop AIDS fast with those that
remain asymptomatic for over a couple of years.  

Reference:

Bryan T. Grenfell, Oliver G. Pybus, Julia R. Gog, James L. N. Wood, Janet M.
Daly, Jenny A. Mumford, and Edward C. Holmes (2004)  Unifying the Epidemiological 
and Evolutionary Dynamics of Pathogens.  Science 303:327-332.

Alexei J. Drummond, Oliver G. Pybus, Andrew Rambaut, Roald Forsberg and
Allen G. Rodrigo (2003) Measurably evolving populations.  Trends in Ecology and 
Evolution 18:481-488