War in the Body

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xix

   PDF

2. Introduction

   • W. David Wick, Otto O. Yang

   Pages 1-36

3. The Biology, Modeling, and Predictions

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 37-37

      PDF

   2. The HIV Infection Model

      • W. David Wick, Otto O. Yang

      Pages 39-47

   3. The CTL Model

      • W. David Wick, Otto O. Yang

      Pages 49-53

   4. Simulating an HIV Infection In Vivo

      • W. David Wick, Otto O. Yang

      Pages 55-63

   5. The Escape Formula

      • W. David Wick, Otto O. Yang

      Pages 65-69

   6. Early and Late Escapes

      • W. David Wick, Otto O. Yang

      Pages 71-79

   7. Understanding Escape

      • W. David Wick, Otto O. Yang

      Pages 81-96

   8. More Topics About Escape from Immune Control

      • W. David Wick, Otto O. Yang

      Pages 97-111

   9. HIV’s Cloaking Device: The Fascinating Story of Nef

      • W. David Wick, Otto O. Yang

      Pages 113-122

   10. Retroviral Sex and Escape

       • W. David Wick, Otto O. Yang

       Pages 123-134

   11. The N _e Business, Again, and a Proposed Experiment

       • W. David Wick, Otto O. Yang

       Pages 135-146

   12. Can a T-Cell Vaccine Block Escape?

       • W. David Wick, Otto O. Yang

       Pages 147-160

   13. The STEP Trial, Monkey Trials, and the Future of T-Cell Vaccines

       • W. David Wick, Otto O. Yang

       Pages 161-168

   14. Afterword: The RV144 Trial and the Current Status of HIV Vaccine Research

       • W. David Wick, Otto O. Yang

       Pages 169-173

4. The Mathematics

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 175-175

      PDF

   2. Short Tutorial on Dynamical Models

      • W. David Wick, Otto O. Yang

      Pages 177-181

   3. Deterministic Modeling: A Cautionary Example

      • W. David Wick, Otto O. Yang

      Pages 183-185

   4. The Infection Model Defined

      • W. David Wick, Otto O. Yang

      Pages 187-190

In the relatively few decades since the introduction of HIV into the human population, variants of the virus have diverged to such an extent that, were the discussion about something other than viruses, said variants could easily be classified as different species. This book will consider these evolutionary variations, as well as the different and, at times, opposing theories attempting to explain them. It will compare and contrast the ways in which the immune system and drugs affect the virus's evolution, and the implications of these for vaccine development. The issue will be explored and explained through "ecological genetics," which postulates that all living organisms have, besides rivals, enemies. This is divergent from the more traditional school of "population genetics," which emphasizes that evolution occurs among rival species (or variants thereof) that compete for niches or resources in a fixed, unreactive environment. Both models will be formulated using mathematical models, which will be included in the book. Finally, it will consider the possibilities for designing a vaccine that blocks HIV from escaping the immune system.

• Drug Resistance
• HIV/AIDS
• Viral Evolution
• vaccines

From the reviews:

“Provide a critical overview of the mathematical modeling performed so far to understand HIV immunity and escape, and advance an innovative alternative approach for stochastic simulation. … War in the Body is not a how-to guide, tutorial, or cook-book, but a research monograph, with thought exercises to cultivate problem-solving skills and foster developing plausible, stable numerical simulations.” (Complexity, March, 2014)

• Seattle, USA

  W David Wick

• Geffen School of Medicine, Department of Medicine, UCLA Medical Center, Los Angeles, USA

  Otto O Yang

Dr. Yang is a well known T-Cell and HIV expert at UCLA. Dr. Wick is recently retired. His last position was Senior Scientist in the Infectious Diseases Division of the Fred Hutchison Center, in Seattle, where he worked on immune response to HIV and vaccines.

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