Genetic analysis and gene expression of human immunodeficiency virus

Ten years after the initial description of acquired immune deficiency syndrome, its causative agent, the human immunodeficiency virus, remains the subject of intense scientific interest. Recent research has focused on the detailed analysis of the molecular principles governing gene expression and virion formation and on the cause of immune system dysfunction. Within the past year, considerable progress has been made regarding both the role of the regulatory proteins and the mechanism by which they function, and the determinants of cell tropism and of virion formation.