Life Sciences 1a: An Integrated Introduction to the Life Sciences: Chemistry, Molecular Biology, and Cell Biology
Instructor: Erin K. O’Shea, Daniel E. Kahne, and Robert A. Lue
Semester: Fall 2006

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Life Sciences 1a: An Integrated Introduction to the Life Sciences: Chemistry, Molecular Biology, and Cell Biology
This blog was inspired by Life Sciences 1a: An Integrated Introduction to the Life Sciences: Chemistry, Molecular Biology, and Cell Biology by Erin K. O’Shea, Daniel E. Kahne, and Robert A. Lue

Introductory Life Sciences at Harvard: More Than Your Typical AP Science Course
January 16th, 2008
An enemy agent stealthily slips into the heavily guarded compound using a stolen identification card and lifted fingerprints, carefully evading the guards that patrol every square inch of the restricted area. He enters one of the peripheral buildings, pausing to allow one of his many gadgets to activate...
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What is HIV?
February 8th, 2008
HIV, or Human Immunodeficiency Virus, is perhaps one of the most prominent viruses of the modern world. Transmitted by the exchange of bodily fluids (including blood, breast milk, semen, and vaginal fluid), HIV targets immune cells, triggering their destruction and thereby weakening the immune system...
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The HIV Life Cycle
February 8th, 2008
Like all viruses, HIV lacks the framework required for self-replication and is thus required to rely on the replication machinery of a host cell in order to propagate. To this end, the virus has evolved a very sophisticated system of infiltrating the cell and adding its own genetic information into that...
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The HIV Genome
February 8th, 2008
Before we begin discussing the mechanisms by which HIV carries out its task, let's take a look at the viral genome so that we can gain a better understanding of the virus itself. Like organisms, viruses contain a genome encoding proteins that are needed for reproduction. HIV is a retrovirus - that is,...
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Phase 1: Infiltrating the Cell (Membrane Fusion)
February 8th, 2008
Phase 1 marks the start of the infection - the initial infiltration of the guarded compound. In order for the virus to propagate, it must first find a target to infect and commandeer. In the case of HIV, recognition of target cells is mediated by glycoproteins on the outer membrane of the virus capsid,...
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Phase 2: Injecting the New Program (Viral Genome Insertion)
February 8th, 2008
You've probably heard of computer viruses that automatically copy themselves from computer to computer, hiding themselves among the millions of legitimate files to evade removal while they secretly perform their evil deeds. But did you know that biological viruses do the same thing? The infection process...
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Phase 3: Controlling the Factory (Production of Viral Proteins)
February 8th, 2008
At this point in the infection cycle, the viral genome has been completely copied and inserted into the host genome, blending in with existing host genes. This is the virus's main strategy: by masquerading its own genes as those of the cell, the cell is fooled into transcribing viral genes and producing...
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Phase 4: Releasing the Bomb (Assembly and Release of New Viruses)
February 8th, 2008
At this point, the infection cycle is nearly complete. Not only has the virus been able to enter the cell and infect the genome with its own genes, but it has also created mRNA transcripts of all the genes that it needs for producing new viruses. Those transcripts are then translated by the cytosolic...
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Closing Remarks
February 8th, 2008
Now that you've learned all about how HIV turns the host cell's own machinery against itself, you might be wondering, why is HIV still a problem? If we know all of this about HIV and have developed drugs to combat the virus at almost every step, why can't we eradicate HIV once and for all? The answer...
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