The goal of this proposal is to create a simple, accurate and low cost method for drug susceptibility profiling HIV-positive patients. It is proposed to use linear signal amplification to rapidly detect unique nucleic acid sequences that may be present as a small fraction (<0.1 - 10%) of the virus population. The PI contends that this makes the method well suited for detection of targeted mutations in the variable genetic background characteristic of HIV. This phase I study describes detection of 4 highly prevalent HIV mutations in the pol gene that reduce susceptibility to widely used reverse transcriptase inhibitors. The proposal includes plans to validate the methodology on clinical samples.
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