Host genetics and HIV-1: the final phase?

This is a crucial transition time for human genetics in general,and for hiv host genetics in particular. after years of equivocal results from candidate gene analyses,several genome-wide association studies have been published that looked at plasma viral load or disease progression. results from other studies that used various large-scale approaches (sirna screens,transcriptome or proteome analysis,comparative genomics) have also shed new light on retroviral pathogenesis. however,most of the inter-individual variability in response to hiv-1 infection remains to be explained: genome resequencing and systems biology approaches are now required to progress toward a better understanding of the complex interactions between hiv-1 and its human host. © 2010 fellay et al.