Cut Hunter Theory Essay

There are many different factors to think about when learning about HIV. It is important to start from the beginning and look at the development of HIV and how it jumped from chimps to humans in the early 1900s. It is also important to think about how it is transmitted between humans and why HIV became so rampant in America during the 1980s. Lastly it is important to look at both the processes of the HIV life cycle, along with HIV evading the immune system.

There are multiple different theories about the origin of HIV and how it jumped to humans. One of which is called the ‘cut hunter theory.’ This theory begins about one million years ago in Cameroon, with a chimp eating both a red cap mangabey and a spot nosed guenon. The mingling of the

Within the immune system, there are four important parts within the blood: platelets (form blood clots), red blood cells (transfer oxygen), white blood cells (fight infection), and plasma (surrounds blood). Starting with white blood cells—there are two different types: phagocytes and lymphocytes. Within phagocytes, there are also dendritic cells and macrophages. Lymphocytes are located within the lymph nodes and include both T Cells (which mature in the thymus) and B Cells. Both of these cells come from bone marrow. It is also important to note that there are two different type of T cells: CD4 and CD8. After HIV enters the immune system, the first step is infection. This is the step where people can take medication to prevent the HIV from maturing. The second step is when the viruses and their proteins land on infected cells and stimulate the macrophages. Next, the interleukin 1 is released and the virus replicates itself within the T helper cell. After this, the interleukin 2 is released and the cytotoxic T cells activate and kill infected cells. B cells then activate as well, then multiply and release a multitude of antibodies that go on to kill either the virus, or the infected macrophages. Although with other viruses and bacterium, cells see the antibodies attached to a particle, and they go on to kill it—with HIV—the particle oftentimes doesn’t have enough receptors for the antibody to take an affective hold. It is important to note the three cells that can be infected by HIV: T helper cells, macrophages, and dendritic cells. If any of these cells are infected, the immune system process cannot continue. It is also important to talk about the dendritic cell. While oftentimes HIV reaches the dendritic cell through tears in the skin, it is also possible for HIV to reach the cell from within the body. The job of the dendritic cell is to catch viruses within the body, and bring them to the