"Epigenetic mechanisms affecting HIV"

38 million people globally live with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) which causes AIDS. Antiretroviral therapy (ART) can put the virus on “pause” but it is not a cure. Curing HIV is difficult as it integrates into the genome of specific white blood cells. ART is expensive and needs lifelong usage, or the virus will restart replicating. I study the epigenetic mechanisms that affect integrated HIV viruses’ ability to restart replicating when ART is stopped. Epigenetics is the study of inherited mechanisms that affects gene expression withought changing the DNA sequence.