HIV Was Invented to Get Rid of Black People and Homosexuals
The idea that HIV was invented by humans deliberately, to get rid of black people and homosexuals, is widely regarded as a conspiracy theory. While there are a number of theories which claim to explain the genesis of HIV there is only one theory which is scientifically credible.
HIV disproportionately affects black people and one of the first groups to present with HIV in the United States was gay men. This is where the theory that HIV was engineered to rid society of black people and gay people probably came from. However the reasons why black people are more likely to be infected with HIV and why gay men were the first to present with HIV are largely due to biomedical, social, political and material factors, not because they were purposely targeted for elimination. For more information on why some groups are more likely to become infected with HIV than others click here.
The theory that HIV was engineered in order to wage biological warfare on black people originated in the United States and claims that HIV was engineered by the US Special Cancer Virus program (SCVP) with help from the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
This idea, which is based on the belief that HIV is man made, is largely disproved by the similarities between HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) and SIV (Simian Immunodeficiency Virus). It has been scientifically proven that HIV is most likely a viral descendant of SIV. For example in 1999 scientists in Alabama discovered a strain of SIV which was very similar to the HIV-1 strain.
It is well established that it is possible for some viruses to jump from animals to humans. SIV was transmitted to humans through humans eating the flesh of SIV infected apes or monkeys. Another way the virus could have been passed to humans is through infected ape or monkey blood getting into open wounds and cuts on the human body.
Sources and Further Reading Avert.org, AIDS Timeline Avert.org, The Origin of HIV and the First Cases of AIDS
