Stephen Dewhurst, Ph.D. and Linda Whetter, D.V.M., Ph.D.

Department of Microbiology and Immunology, and Cancer Center, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester NY

Received 2/21/97; Accepted 2/25/97; On-line 3/1/97

2. INTRODUCTION

HIV-1, the causative agent of AIDS, presently infects approximately 24 million adults and 1.5 million children, worldwide . This brief review describes recent advances in our understanding of the pathogenesis and viral dynamics of AIDS, as well as new insights into the biology and lifecycle of HIV-1, and attempts to relate these to new and emerging approaches to the therapeutic management of HIV-1 infection.