Lentivirus

Lentivirus is a genus of retroviruses that includes the most important human and animal pathogens, like HIV, SIV, and FIV. Lentiviruses are capable of infecting non-dividing, or slowly dividing, cells, thus allowing for persistent infections. This feature makes lentivirus a popular choice for gene therapy tools and for the production of transgenic animals. Lentiviruses are also used as tools for gene knockdown and gene expression, as well as for the delivery of genomic editing tools, such as CRISPR-Cas9, in vivo. Lentiviruses have also increasingly been used in other non-therapeutic areas, such as stem cell and cancer research, as well as in functional genomics. Their versatility, safety, and effectiveness makes lentiviruses the most commonly used viral vectors in the life sciences.