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HIV is hard to vaccinate against partly because its surface recognition sites:
AAre hidden beneath a thick capsule
BAre identical to human blood markers
CChange rapidly because of mutations
DDisappear entirely inside a host cell
Answer & Solution
Correct answer: C. Change rapidly because of mutations
1. A virus enters a cell by binding sites on the cell surface that are specific to it.
2. A vaccine works by teaching antibodies to recognise the virus surface.
3. The recognition sites on HIV change at a rapid rate because of mutations.
4. The antibodies will not recognise the new variations of the surface patterns.
5. So the difficulty is a moving target, not concealment or disappearance.
_Source: OpenStax Biology for AP(R) Courses (CC BY 4.0), Ch 5 'Structure and Function of Plasma Membranes', sections 5.1-5.4_
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