First evidence that HIV causes AIDS

The classic paper in Science from Bob Gallo et al.

Today’s paper is a Science classic. “Isolation of Human T-Cell Leukemia Virus in
Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS),” by Gallo et al. established that a virus (formerly called HTLV, later called HIV) was found to infect immune cells of AIDS patients. Since Robert Kennedy Jr. has claimed that HIV does not cause AIDS and is likely to be asked about it in his hearing today, I thought it was a good one to put on here.

Here is the abstract:

Several isolates of a human type-C retrovirus belonging to one group, known as human T-cell leukemia virus (HTLV), have previously been obtained from patients with adult T-cell leukemia or lymphoma. The T-cell tropism of HTLV and its prevalence in the Caribbean basin prompted a search for it in patients with the epidemic T-cell immune deficiency disorder known as AIDS. Peripheral blood lymphocytes from one patient in the United States and two in France were cultured with T-cell growth factor (TCGF) and shown to express HTLV antigens. Virus from the U.S. patient was isolated and characterized and shown to be related to HTLV subgroup I. The virus was also transmitted into normal human T cells from umbilical cord blood of a newborn. Whether or not HTLV-I or other retroviruses of this family with T-cell tropism cause AIDS, it is possible that patients from whom the virus can be isolated can also transmit it to others. If the target cell of AIDS is the mature T cell as suspected, the methods used in these studies may prove useful for the long-term growth of these cells and for the identification of antigens specific for the etiological agent of AIDS.

This classic figure shows that the HTLV virus was present in T cells from a patient with AIDS. For those of us who came of age in science following this story, it’s one of the most iconic figures of the 80s.

Challenges to this idea mostly came from Peter Duesberg who published this Policy Forum (an opinion piece) in Science arguing that HIV does not cause AIDS. Despite lots of back and forth, the scientific consensus is that Duesberg’s ideas were fully debunked. Our reporter Jon Cohen wrote many excellent news articles about this like this one and here (and many more). There is more material in Science on this than you can get through in a reasonable time.

So, if this comes up in the discourse today and you want to see the original data, take a trip down memory lane and read for yourself. If you see any problem with Gallo’s paper, let us know at science_data@aaas.org (although as one of the most-discussed papers of all time, we might have heard whatever you raise).