The mutations that make HIV resistant to specific drugs are

The mutations that make HIV resistant to specific drugs are usually....

a. substitutions (=non-synonymous mutations)

b. silent mutations (=synonymous mutations)

c. frameshift mutations

d. mutations in the promotor region

Please explain! Thanks

Solution

Answer: (a) Substitution

Reverse transcriptase (RT) converts the RNA genome of HIV to DNA. The errors made during replication allow the virus to escape the cell\'s defence mechanism and also gives rise to resistance against anti-HIV drugs. Insertions and deletions (substitutions) in RT results in an increased error rate rate during viral replication.