PhD awarded to Natasja de Groot on the subject ‘A selective sweep in chimpanzees: is SIV the Culprit?’

On 22 September 2010 Natasja de Groot was awarded her PhD after defending her thesis at Utrecht University.
At the department of Comparative Genetics & Refinement of the BPRC she investigated the resistance of chimpanzees against AIDS. In contrast to most humans chimpanzees generally do not get ill after HIV infection. In her thesis she describes how a pandemic with an HIV-like virus about 2 million years ago likely has resulted in selection of chimpanzees that possess specific genetic features. These features were shown to enable recognition of the virus by the immune system. In this way, the virus is controlled and the animals do not get ill from AIDS. These findings have received a lot of attention in the dutch press, see for example
http://www.nu.nl/algemeen/2331688/chimpansees-weerstaan-aids-dankzij-selectie.html and
http://www.volkskrant.nl/wetenschap/article1418481.ece/Chimpansees_weerstaan_aids_dankzij_selectie
(in Dutch)