The human immune system has developed diverse, coordinated methods of resisting and destroying viruses.
a. Describe the typical composition of a virus. Why are viruses not classified as living organisms?
b. Why are antibiotics ineffective against viruses? What characteristics do antibiotics specifically target, and why is this advantageous to humans?
c. HIV has characteristics, such as a high rate of mutation, that enable it to evade the human adaptive immune response. Describe why it mutates faster than human nuclear DNA.
Lewis states, "First, HIV enters macrophages, impairing this first line of defense". This is not quite true. To get this far, HIV managed to get through the "real" first line of defense. What is this first line? Give two examples of its methods.