1. HIV Reverse Transcriptase; Target for AIDS Treatment AIDS, though an incurable disease, can be significantly slowed in its onset through HIV chemotherapy. The polymerase HIV-1 RT is the primary target of current drug design. This enzyme converts the RNA code contained in the HIV retrovirus into DNA that can be spliced into the host genome for viral replication. Two classes of HIV-1 RT inhibitors have emerged; these are nucleoside analogs and non-nucleoside inhibitors (NNRTIs). In the following presentation, the general structure of HIV-1 RT will be investigated, followed by a demonstration of the means by which these inhibitors halt transcriptase function in vivo . Furthermore, computational methods of drug design will be explored.