It has been difficult to create an effective vaccine against HIV because reverse transcriptase cannot correct its errors.

Question

Answer the following statement true (T) or false (F)

Answer 1

True

Clarify Question

What is the key concept addressed by the question?
The question is asking about the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) . 
What type of thinking is required?
You are being asked to take what you already know about the biology of HIV and to apply this knowledge to address treatment. 
What key words does the question contain?
Reverse transcriptase, viral enzyme able to copy viral RNA into DNA 
Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus with RNA as its genetic material 

Gather Content

What do you already know about HIV? What other information is related to the question?
HIV is a retrovirus meaning its genetic material is stored as RNA. For infection to occur of a host cell, HIV must produce a complementary DNA strand from its RNA which can then integrate into the host cell's genome for reproduction of the virus to occur. Reverse transcriptase is the enzyme responsible for producing the complimentary strand of DNA using the viral RNA. A feature of reverse transcriptase is that is does not possess a proofreading function like DNA polymerase has. As a result of no proofreading, each time the RNA of HIV is reverse transcribed into DNA more errors (mutations) are introduced.  

Choose Answer

Given what you now know, what information is most likely to produce the correct answer?
Would an increase in mutation rate of a virus make it more or less difficult for a vaccine to be produced? More mutations means more variation in the virus which means any vaccine will quickly become obsolete. Vaccines are dependent on helping potential hosts recognize a pathogen as quickly as possible to mount an effective defense, but the high variation in HIV structure makes reliable recognition of the virus very difficult.   

Reflect on Process

Did your problem-solving process lead you to the correct answer? If not, where did the process break down or lead you astray? How can you revise your approach to produce a more desirable result?
Answering the question depended on your ability to use what you already know about HIV and to apply this knowledge to answer a question about HIV treatment.  
If you got the correct answer, great! If not, remember it's important to use a systematic approach to answer questions and to reinforce those good habits over time. If you got an incorrect answer, where did the process break down? Did you remember the life cycle of HIV? Did you remember the function of the enzymes necessary for HIV to reproduce, including reverse transcriptase? Did you consider what the effect of increased variation in the genome of HIV would have on the efficacy of a vaccine?