Cis–Acting RNA Elements of Human Immunodeficiency Virus

The World Health Organization has indicated that effective control of the HIV/AIDS pandemic is the world’s most urgent public health challenge. The 2009 UNAIDS Global Facts and Figures report estimated that almost 60 million people have been infected with the virus and that 25 million AIDS-related deaths have occurred since the pandemic began in the early 1980s. In 2008, there were approximately 33.4 million people living with HIV, 2.7 million new infections and 2 million deaths from AIDS-related causes. The pathogen that causes this pandemic is the Major (M) group of HIV type 1 (HIV-1). Group M HIV-1 dominates the global pandemic with at least nine subtypes and multiple intersubtype recombinants have been identified to date (Leitner et al., 2005). Many of these recombinants are circulating in multiple geographical regions and are integral parts in the HIV-1 pandemic (McCutchan, 2006; Takebe et al., 2004).