ound that the visna virus is the mostsimilar to HIV. The two were, in fact, 60% identical in 1986. According tofindings of the Hahn group, the mutation rate of the HIV virus was about amillion times higher than that of similar viruses, and that on the average a10% alteration took place every two years. That would mean that in 1984, thedifference between HIV and visna would have been only 30%, in 1982- 20%, 10% in1980 and zero in 1978. "This means," say the Segals, "that at this time visnaviruses changed into HIV, receiving at the same time the ability to becomeparasites in human T4-cells and the high genetic instability that is not knownin other retroviruses. This is also consistent with the fact that the firstcases of AIDS appeared about one year later, in the spring of 1979.""In his comparison of the genomes of visna and HIV," add the Segals, "Coffinhit upon a remarkable feature. The env (envelope) area of the HIV genome, whichencodes the envelope proteins which help the virus to attach itself to the hostcell, is about 300 nucleotides longer than the same area in visna. Thisbehaviour suggests that an additional piece has been inserted into the genomesof the visna virus, a piece that alters the envelope proteins and enables themto bind themselves to the T4-receptors. BUT THIS SECTION BEHAVES LIKE ABIOLOGICALLY ALIEN BODY, which does not match the rest of the systembiochemically.The above mentioned work by Gonda et al shows that the HIV virus has a sectionof about 300 nucleotides, which does not exist in the visna virus. That lengthcorresponds with what Coffin described. That section is particularly unstable,which indicates that it is an alien object. According to the Segals, it"originates in an HTLV-1 genome, (discovered by Gallo-ED) for the likelihood ofan accidental occurrence in HIV of a genome sequence 60% identical with asection of the HTLV-1 that is 300 nucleotides in length is zero." Since thevisna virus is incapable of attachi...
