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Article: Gene variant in people with African ancestry ups HIV infection risk
- Article from:
- The Hindustan Times
- Article date:
- July 17, 2008
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Report from Asian News International brought to you by HT Syndication.
Washington, July 17 -- An Indian-origin researcher at South Texas Veterans Health Care System and University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio says that a variant of a gene found only in people of African ancestry increases the chances of becoming infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-1) by 40 per cent.
Sunil Ahuja, however, also points out that once people are infected, the same variant seems to protect against the progression of the disease, enabling those carrying the infection to live about two years longer.
"It's well-known that individuals vary in their susceptibility to HIV and that ...