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"And their tendency to revert upon infection to a new host" - Are you saying that viruses revert to some sort of "base version" when they transfer from host to
by foota 11y ago
"And their tendency to revert upon infection to a new host" - Are you saying that viruses revert to some sort of "base version" when they transfer from host to host? I'd never heard of such a thing. How would that work?
- adrianN 11y agoNew hosts don't take drugs that kill certain variants of the virus, so the version that does best in a drug free environment replicates quickest. That's usually different from the version that does best in the drugged environment.
- Amorymeltzer 11y agoYes. Depends on the virus, but in the case of HIV infection, the patient can produce over 1 billion new virus particles a day. Given the size (10kb) and mutation rate (10-3 to 10-6, iirc) every single nucleotide is mutated every single day. There's more to it than that (lookup "biological filter" for example), but the virus must mutate to avoid drugs, which usually means a fitness hit (lower replication, for example). Upon infection of a new host, the virus can quickly maximize fitness once again. Not a "base version" per se, but a more ideal, fit virus, without many/most of the escape mutations.
- gizmo686 11y agoIf that is the case, then would it be possible for someone who skipped a dose and development a resistant strain, to continue skipping doses until his virus looses its resistance?