Bridging the gap: Human diploid cell strains and the origin of AIDS

Recent descriptions of the first human and chimpanzee cases of human immuno deficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1)-related retroviral infections dating from 1 959 have stirred interest in the origin of AIDS. Although the theory of a c himpanzee origin of HIV-1 with cross-species transfer to man has now gained popularity, a more likely scenario is that chimps and humans were infected by an HIV-1 precursor virus derived from a contaminated poliovaccine. The reason for the rapidity and ease of cross-species transfer of this precurso r virus has not been elucidated. We hypothesize that the poliovaccine was p assaged in a human diploid cell strain. This simple manipulation allowed th e retrovirus to adapt to human tissues and may have spawned the AIDS pandem ic. (C) 2000 Academic Press.