In that viruses are not living organisms, but are instead cellular products, it is technically incorrect to refer to the above process as a "life cycle." It is a cycle of viral infection of cells and viral production. Starting with the entry of the HIV RNA genome (of which there are two copies per viron) and the enzyme reverse transcriptase (also contained in the viron), the viral genes may be converted into double stranded DNA and then integrated into the normal genome of the host cell. Thus, the viral genes become a part of the host cell genetic make-up. This situation is referred to as the provirus. If the proviral genes are activated, two types of HIV RNA are transcribed, RNA that will be assembled into new virus particles and RNA that will be translated into proteins that either become part of the viral particle or regulate the assembly and budding process. Some of the proteins produced must be processed by a virally coded protease enzyme into their final form. Protease inhibitors are given to HIV infected patients to inhibit this step of the virus production. AZT and other nucleoside analogs inhibit the accurate production of double stranded DNA by the reverse transcriptase enzyme. New drugs are being developed to inhibit the gene integration step (integrase inhibitors) as well as the assembly and budding process. If the virus remains true to form, it will be able to mutate a resistance to these drugs the same as it has done for the drugs currently available. None of the current drug treatment regimes have been proven to rid the human body of HIV since the proviral genes become integrated into the normal genome (where they can remain quiescent for a long time) of a large reservoir so many different cell types . The only feasible way to deal with this problem is to develop the technology to enable site-specific mutation of the HIV genes that have been integrated into those cells. Although site-specific mutation of some prokaryotic genes has been reported in the literature, it will be quite some time before eukaryotic genes can be targeted with the necessary precision. Also, those research programs on developing this technology are not currently focused on AIDS or HIV, but on other molecular biology problems. The best survival technique is to never get infected with any if the strains of HIV.