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Glossary

Selected words and phrases

maternal-foetal microtransfusions are when small amounts of infected blood from the mother leak from the placenta to the baby during labour (or other disruption of the placenta).

base – (also called nucleotide) – the building blocks in DNA that form amino acids. There are four bases represented by the letters A (adenine), T (thymine), C (cytosine) and G (guanine). In RNA the T is replaced by U (uricil).

Genetics, HIV structure and life cycle

fibrotest – a test which uses results from blood tests to predict liver damage and which may become an alternative option to liver biopsy in some patients.

side effect – an unwanted effect from taking a medicine. Sometimes called an adverse event or drug toxicity.

T-cell – a type of white blood cell (lymphocyte) that are part of the immune system and that mature in the thymus (T). CD4 cells are also called T-cells.