Phylogenetic Moments in the AIDS Epidemic

Abstract By 1983, several laboratories had identified and isolated the etiologic agent of AIDS, the retrovirus now denoted HIV, and by 1985 nucleotide sequences derived from those early isolates were reported. This molecular information was available in time to address a flurry of speculations and allegations concerning the sudden emergence of the AIDS virus. In 1986, two avirulent strains of herpes simplex virus were discovered to have generated a lethal recombinant in vitro (Javier et al., 1986), and this quickly touched off speculation that the AIDS virus may have been similarly generated in nature or in a testtube. Such speculations contributed to a world wide climate of anxiety and created a potential for dissemination of false and misleading information. In light of this, we at the HIV Sequence Database and Analysis Project (an NIH-funded project at the Los Alamos National Laboratory), recognized the immediate need for an investigation of the molecular facts pertinent to the origin of AIDS.