Original version

BBC World Service Online

Science in Action

Science In Action

Factual: Science & Nature

Factual: Science & Nature: Science & Technology

The BBC brings you all the week's science news.

Science In Action: HIV Structure

HIV’s protective protein capsule coating, or Capsid.

30/05/2013

HIV Structure

BBC World Service - Science In Action, HIV Structure

HIV Structure, forgotten plant genetics and the cultural influence on our genes.

Physicists crack the structure of HIV’s protein coat, genes from forgotten plants reborn to breed crops able to deal with climate change and cultural influence on human genetics.

Scientists have used a supercomputer to figure out the structure of HIV’s protective protein capsule coating, or Capsid. They have looked at chemical bonds and atomic level structure, combining millions of separate pieces of data.  Knowing this chemical structure could pave the way for a whole range on new treatments for the disease. 

Researchers in the UK and Malaysia are looking at  largely forgotten food grains, some used thousands of years ago, which show drought tolerance and an ability to grow in poor soil. They say taking these traits and applying them in commercial crops could help produce food crops better able to cope with climate change. 

Culture may be driving genetic changes, rather than the other way around.
If we look at the path of human evolution, it’s generally assumed our genes developed from earlier primate forms through mutation. Leading to largely accidental changes which gave one individual an advantage over another. However once we became human and developed societies and culture, new forces were at play. Recent research looking at language argues that the ability to speak might have been triggered by a cultural need rather than simply emerging through genetic mutations. 

(Image HIV's Capsid.  Courtesy:  Juan Roberto Perilla)

Accessibility links

Programme Index

Science In Action

HIV Structure

Genres

Brand

BBC World Service Online

About BBC World Service