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Hillary Johnson: "Third Human Retrovirus"?

dannybex

Senior Member
Messages
3,561
Location
Seattle
I noticed on Johnson's website that at the top of the page she asks the question:

"Are you infected with XMRV, the third human retrovirus?"

I'm definitely no scientist, shoot, I can barely read lately...but I thought there were at least four confirmed retroviruses: HTLV1, HTLV2, HIV1 and HIV2.

Then of course, XMRV...and what about Defreitas' retrovirus, that Hillary reported on so extensively?

Wouldn't that make XMRV, the fifth...or the sixth?

:confused:

http://www.oslersweb.com/
 

V99

Senior Member
Messages
1,471
Location
UK
The three are HIV, HTLV, & XMRV.

The numbers next to them are strains, so there are three.

I think I am right, any one know for sure.
 

ixchelkali

Senior Member
Messages
1,107
Location
Long Beach, CA
I've thought that, too, when others have called XMRV the third. But then someone (who???) explained that they count the different types of HTLV as one, the different HIV's as another one, so XMRV is the third. And they're talking only about the infectious ones, not the endogenous ones. Defreitas' retrovirus was never "proven" not to be endogenous. Although I can't help wondering if it isn't lurking around in us somewhere, still waiting to be re-discovered.
 

dannybex

Senior Member
Messages
3,561
Location
Seattle
Thank you...that makes sense. Although I still wonder about Defreitas' retrovirus, and why no one is following up on that...?

And you're right ixchelkali, there are probably many, many that we don't even know about.
 

usedtobeperkytina

Senior Member
Messages
1,479
Location
Clay, Alabama
Yes

Yes, I think this is the first one that seems to pop out and then go in hiding. This is part of why it hasn't been found until now. And, it has a nature that scientists had not attributed to viruses before.

So, how many others are there like this?

Just to be precise, this is the third human infectious retrovirus.

Tina
 

ixchelkali

Senior Member
Messages
1,107
Location
Long Beach, CA
Yes, XMRV is an exogenous retrovirus, as are HTLV-I, HTLV-II, HTLV-III, HTLV-IV, HIV-1, and HIV-2. As I understand it, we also have lots of apparently harmless and maybe helpful endogenous retroviruses that we're born with.

Um, aren't HTLV-III and HIV-1 the same thing? Or has that changed, and there's a new HTLV-III?

You know, these viruses need catchier names, like hurricanes. We could name all the leukemia viruses after, say, oceans, and the immunodeficiency viruses after Dante's circles of hell, and mouse viruses after, what? Greek gods? Famous mice? (Algernon, Jerry, Despereaux).
 

Forbin

Senior Member
Messages
966
I believe that XMRV is the third exogenus retrovirus "species" found in humans.
HIV-1 and HIV-2 might be called "strains" or sub-species of the species HIV, for example, but I'm not certain of that.


[Group] [Family] [Sub-Family] [Genus] [Species]

GROUP VI
--------Retroviridae
-----------------Orthoretrovirinae
------------------------------Deltaretrovirus
---------------------------------------Human T-lymphotropic virus (HTLV)
------------------------------Lentivirus
---------------------------------------Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)
------------------------------Gammaretrovirus
---------------------------------------Xenotropic Murine leukemia virus (XMRV)