Genetic link and HIV
Researchers have found a genetic variant peculiar to native Africans has shown to substant...
Researchers have found a genetic variant peculiar to native Africans has shown to substantially raise their risk of infection with HIV. This variant may be helping to drive the continents Aids epidemic.
Scientists from Britain and the United States have found that 90% of Africans who carry the DNA variation are 40% more likely to contract HIV than those without it, following similar exposure to the virus. As the genetic change is very common among people of African ancestry, but virtually unknown among other ethnic groups, it may partially explain why HIV-Aids is so prevalent in sub-Saharan Africa compared with that found elsewhere in the world.
The genetic variant is so common in Africa that it could be responsible for about 11% of the continentƒ??s HIV burden, which accounts for 2.5 million cases.
