Virology News

The results of the phylogenomic analysis of the virophages and related genetic elements are compatible with the concept of network-like evolution of the virus world and emphasize multiple evolutionary connections between bona fide viruses and other classes of capsid-less mobile elements.

Altogether, virophages, polintons, a distinct Tetrahymena transposable element Tlr1, transpovirons, adenoviruses, and some bacteriophages form a network of evolutionary relationships that is held together by overlapping sets of shared genes and appears to represent a distinct module in the vast total network of viruses and mobile elements.

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) has announced that it will halt its HVTN 505 HIV vaccine

trial due to a perceived lack of efficacy. A scheduled review by an independent data and safety monitoring board found that the vaccine regimen neither prevented HIV infection nor reduced viral load in vaccine recipients who became infected with HIV.

The announcement will come as a blow to those hoping the HVTN 505 would be an effective intervention to stem the HIV pandemic.

HIV particle graphic by Russell Kightley Media