Author： Gilbert Hannah
Publisher： Routledge Ltd
ISSN： 0145-9740
Source： Medical Anthropology, Vol.32, Iss.4, 2013-07, pp. : 343-358
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Abstract
The discovery of HIV-2, a distinctly West African variant of HIV, is often portrayed as the result of a straightforward, if serendipitous, error. This article reframes the history of how HIV-2 came to be a knowable scientific identity. Relying on narratives from an African laboratory and clinic, it suggests that the rise and fall of HIV-2 as a viable research entity is indicative of a differential visibility and valuation of both human bodies and viruses. Understanding how HIV-2 emerged as a local biology reveals the complex set of relations that contemporary African scientists face in navigating local moral economies and the mercurial politics of the contemporary global health industry.
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