Immunology and AIDS
A laboratory exercise produced at the University of Arizona by William J. Grimes, Linda Chambers, and Martha Narro.
1996: 13,000 people are infected by HIV each day.
Objective:
The purpose of this activity is to review the immune system, and explore how the system can
both protect us and provide experimental tools to detect disease causing agents.
We will provide a laboratory simulation of the spread of a hypothetical disease causing
agent in the classroom, and show how the presence of antibodies in a sample of body fluid
can be used to determine if individuals are infectious. We will also consider the
transmission of contagious disease and the societal implications of the use of experimental
test results for immune crippling diseases like AIDS. Finally, we discuss recent advances
in AIDS treatment.
grimes@biosci.arizona.edu