A public information sheet about what you should know about AIDS and what you should do and don't; symbols within triangles symbolise warnings, symbols within squares represent safe activities; an advertisement by the Commissione Nazionale per la lotta contro l'AIDS, Ministero della Sanità. Colour lithgoraph by Publistyle International, ca. 1995..

1st Congress for people living with HIV and AIDS

Stop AIDS campaign poster

A schedule of events about AIDS 1987-8

Exhibition of AIDS posters by ARTIS

risk of contracting AIDS while on holiday

Poster from Durex advertising safer sex, AIDS awareness and the use of condoms

an AIDS sufferer

A black woman nurses an emaciated child beneath a cross; surrounded by text relating to Christ's crucifixion with a map of Africa in the background; representing the suffering experienced by AIDS/HIV victims; advertisement by CAFOD. Colour lithograph.

concept

Shop

Galleries and Reading Room

Library

Café

We’re undertaking research with website visitors to find out some more about you and what you thought about your visit. This survey will take less than 10 minutes to complete. Thank you for your time!

What brought you to our website today?

A blue background bearing the white lettering: "Fragen Sie ihren Arzt, was am "AIDS-Test" positiv und negativ ist" [Ask your doctor what the "AIDS test" positive and negative is]; an advertisement by the Swiss Physicians [FMH] and Swiss Federal Office of Public Health [BAG]. Colour lithograph.

Ask your doctor what the "AIDS test" positive and negative is

A collage of letters, tickets, records etc. representing family relations, memories and time spent together for people affected in different ways by AIDS. Colour lithograph after C. Padberg, 1994.

people affected in different ways by AIDS

Two naked men holding penis models standing by the door of a shower with a warning not to share sex toys; advertisement for safe sex to reduce the risk of HIV by the Core Program. Lithograph by Charles R. Moniz

Sequence of the gene CCR5 Delta 32 in acrylic paint on polyester taffeta. The CCR5 gene produces the CCR5 receptor protein which normally inserts into the cell membrane. The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infects human cells by attaching to 2 cell membrane proteins, CD4 and CCR5. The CCR5 Delta 32 mutation consists of a 32 base-pair deletion which introduces a premature stop signal. This results in a shorter protein with a non-functional receptor. Therefore, HIV is not able to properly attach to the CCR5 receptor and gain entry to the cell, meaning people who have the mutant gene are resistant to developing AIDs. Nearly 20% of the population in Europe has either one or two copies of the mutant gene, which has been traced back 2000 years to a single mutation amongst Vikings in Northern Europe. Those who had the mutation were protected from infection by viruses such as small pox, and survived plagues better than those with the normal CCR5 gene, which explains how the mutation has become so prevalent in a relatively short time. In 2009, scientists in Berlin reported the first, and only, individual to be cured of HIV. The treatment involved a bone marrow transplant from a donor with the CCR5 Delta 32 mutation. 



This image is a photo of 2 large banners each painted with the normal CCR5 sequence (left hand of the stripe) laid next to the CCR5 Delta 32 mutation sequence (right hand of the stripe). The four building blocks, or bases, of DNA are represented by four different colours: yellow (adenine), purple (cytosine), green (guanine) and orange (thymine). The banner on the left shows the genetic mutation in situ; the 32 base-pair deletion can be seen in the middle of the gene. The banner on the right shows the resulting gene product. The effect of the mutation can be seen clearly, indicated by the contrasting colours and the shortened (truncated) gene. The banners are around 3m in height.

DNA sequence of CCR5 Delta 32 gene mutation

A woman touches the face of a man on the platform of a train station; representing an advertisement for information about AIDS by the Ministère de la Santé de la Communauté française, Belgium. Colour lithograph.

advertisement for information about AIDS

Wellcome uses cookies.

AIDS

Images

Works

Ask your doctor what the "AIDS test" positive and negative is

people affected in different ways by AIDS

Two naked men holding penis models standing by the door of a shower with a warning not to share sex toys; advertisement for safe sex to reduce the risk of HIV by the Core Program. Lithograph by Charles R. Moniz

DNA sequence of CCR5 Delta 32 gene mutation

advertisement for information about AIDS

Today’s opening times

Wellcome uses cookies.

AIDS

Images

Works

Ask your doctor what the "AIDS test" positive and negative is

people affected in different ways by AIDS

Two naked men holding penis models standing by the door of a shower with a warning not to share sex toys; advertisement for safe sex to reduce the risk of HIV by the Core Program. Lithograph by Charles R. Moniz

DNA sequence of CCR5 Delta 32 gene mutation

advertisement for information about AIDS

Wellcome Collection

Today’s opening times