HIV Life Cycle

This animation, from the Wellcome Trust, shows how the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infects white blood cells and uses its RNA to produce a strand of DNA which becomes integrated in the host cell's genome.

HIV replicates inside white blood cells called CD4+ T cells. Here, viral DNA integrates with human DNA and acts as a template for the production of more viral RNA and proteins. These are assembled into new viruses, which are released and go on to infect other cells.

The animation contains a lot of detail and is suitable for students aged 16+ to illustrate the replication of a retrovirus.

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