HIV approaches the cell membrane of the human cell, on which exists the CD4 and CCR5 receptor proteins. The lipid-layer of the HIV virus will attach to these receptors, fuses, and enable the virus to inject its content into the human cell. Once its content, single stranded RNA, finds a home in the cytoplasm, HIV virus has a reverse transcriptase that is capable of turning the single stranded RNA into a viral double stranded DNA molecule. Then, the viral double stranded DNA will go into the nucleus, where a process called integration will occur. Integration is done by the retroviral integrase, which will integrate the viral DNA into the human host DNA. This process makes HIV virus incredible difficult to get out of the host. During replication, the HIV virus will then uses the host to transcribe its viral DNA into more viral RNA and viral mRNA strands. The host cell will also be used to translate viral proteins and protein capsids. These products will then egress out of the host cell by budding out of the host lipid membrane. After egression, the virus goes through a process of maturation into another HIV agent.

HIV virus invades human lymphocytes and disable the immune system’s of the host. once the host’s immune system is completely overcome, the disease becomes AIDS, acquired immunodeficiency. The disease is life-long, fatally is mainly the result of another opportunistic disease.