lentivirus
noun
len·ti·vi·rus
ˌlen-tə-ˈvī-rəs 
: any of a genus (Lentivirus) of retroviruses (such as the HIVs and SIV) that cause slowly progressive often fatal human and animal diseases (such as AIDS)
Examples of lentivirus in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
In an instant, the lentivirus timeline stretched, and in the years since has kept growing.
—
Katherine J. Wu, The Atlantic, 21 Sep. 2022
Once there, scientists will treat the cells with Bluebird’s gene therapy, made from a lentivirus that shuttles the beta-globin gene into the cells.
—Ryan Cross, BostonGlobe.com, 17 Aug. 2022
In 2016 a team led by Ewelina Mamcarz, a bone marrow transplant specialist at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, launched a trial for SCID-X1 using a lentivirus (a virus related to HIV) as a vector.
—Tanya Lewis, Scientific American, 18 Oct. 2021
Another type of gene-delivering virus, or vector, has been implicated in cancers in clinical trials, but never a lentivirus.
—Kelly Servick, Science | AAAS, 11 Aug. 2021
VandeWoude studies lentiviruses — a type of retrovirus that includes HIV — in mountain lions and bobcats.
—Quanta Magazine, 13 Sep. 2017
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Katherine J. Wu, The Atlantic, 21 Sep. 2022
Once there, scientists will treat the cells with Bluebird’s gene therapy, made from a lentivirus that shuttles the beta-globin gene into the cells.
—Ryan Cross, BostonGlobe.com, 17 Aug. 2022
In 2016 a team led by Ewelina Mamcarz, a bone marrow transplant specialist at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, launched a trial for SCID-X1 using a lentivirus (a virus related to HIV) as a vector.
—Tanya Lewis, Scientific American, 18 Oct. 2021
Another type of gene-delivering virus, or vector, has been implicated in cancers in clinical trials, but never a lentivirus.
—Kelly Servick, Science | AAAS, 11 Aug. 2021
VandeWoude studies lentiviruses — a type of retrovirus that includes HIV — in mountain lions and bobcats.
—Quanta Magazine, 13 Sep. 2017
Cite this Entry
“Lentivirus.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/lentivirus. Accessed 31 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationMedical Definition
lentivirus
noun
len·ti·vi·rus
ˈlen-tə-ˌvī-rəs
1
capitalized
: a genus of single-stranded RNA viruses (as HIV and SIV) of the family Retroviridae that cause progressive often fatal human and animal diseases (as AIDS, equine infectious anemia, and ovine progressive pneumonia)
2
: any virus of the genus Lentivirus
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