Anaglyphs: HIV virus structure showing core

This image is an anaglyph in which a stereo image pair is combined into a single image using colour to separate the two views. To see the 3D stereo effect, you will need to use red green colour filter glasses (red for your left eye and green for your right eye). Such glasses can be obtained from your optometrist or specialty supplier. It is worth obtaining high quality anaglyphic glasses to achieve the best possible sense of depth. Cheap filters can often be found in novelty 3-D books. SEE HOW ANAGLYPHS ARE MADE.

3D computer model of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus, HIV-1. The virus particle, or virion, appears as a cutaway illustration showing the internal viral structure.

The golden spikes (or knobs) are the trimeric envelope proteins that help the virus to attach to target cells. They are composed of gp120 (outer knob) and gp41 (stalk, trans-membrane section, and cytoplasmic tail). Next comes the viral envelope (translucent green) derived from the host cell plasma membrane during budding of the virus particle. Immediately beneath the viral envelope envelope lie the matrix proteins (MA: blue cage-like structure). Lying across the internal space is the purple capsid (or core). This bullet-shaped structure contains the viral genome (in the case of HIV this is two strands of RNA) and the enzyme reverse transcriptase.