The HIV genome is roughly 10,000 nucleotides in size, while the human genome compares at about 3,000,000,000 base pairs. Reverse transcriptase has an error rate of about 1 in 20,000 bases. What does this imply about the evolution of the virus?

A. The evolutionary rate is rather slow, because it is unlikely that any one virus will contain a mutation.

B. The rate of evolution is extremely high, because every infected cell will produce viruses with mutations.

C. The rate of evolution is rather slow, because the genome is so small.

D. The rate of evolution is extremely high, because the human genome is so comparatively large.

E. The evolutionary rate is slow, because the vast majority of HIV mutations will prevent the virus from binding to human cell receptors.

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15 May, 20:13

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Ayana · Answer 1

B: the rate of evolution is extremely high, because every infected cell will produce viruses with mutations