In 1983, identical twins boys simultaneously received a contaminated blood transfusion immediately after birth, and were subsequently diagnosed with HIV-1. Years later, one of the twins is faring very well and has a near normal immune system, while the other is in poor health and has experienced many complications. How could the same virus, infecting two individuals at the same time, with the same genetic background, yield such different clinical courses? This unfortunate natural experiment has allowed researchers to study viral evolution while holding host genetic make-up constant. Brigham Young University Chairman of Biology Keith Crandall has studied the virus in this interesting case and recently published his findings in BMC Evolutionary Biology.
