F. Clavel is the first-listed author of a1986 study isolating a new human retrovirus from two West African patients with AIDS. The investigators compared its biological and morphological properties, antigens and DNA hybridization behavior with previously characterized viruses. The work helped distinguish the agent subsequently called HIV-2; the original indexed initial-only author spelling is retained.[ref]
Isolation of a new human retrovirus from West African patients with AIDS by F. Clavel and others. Science233,343–346; indexed byline and Abstract
[ref]Molecular cloning and polymorphism of the human immune deficiency virus type 2 by F. Clavel and others. Abstract, HIV-2 and previous LAV-2 designation
An illuminating feature was the separation of resemblance from identity. Similar viral morphology did not settle the classification: envelope glycoproteins differed antigenically, and DNA hybridization supplied a different comparison of genetic relatedness. Shared epitopes in one component could coexist with substantial differences in another component.[ref]
Isolation of a new human retrovirus from West African patients with AIDS by F. Clavel and others. Abstract, core/envelope comparisons and subgenomic probes
A further1986 paper reported cloning the complete approximately9.5-kilobase HIV-2 genome and detecting restriction-site differences between isolates. This moved the characterization from an isolated agent toward a molecular comparison of genomes, without equating every difference between isolates with a distinct viral type.[ref]
New to topics? Read the docs here!