Second, the time-insensitive nature of the genetic markers and the capacity of the GRGs to assess genetically-defined AIDS risk, especially during the proximal stages of infection, is appealing because there is substantial data suggesting that it is the magnitude of early immune damage that dictates, in part, steady-state viral load, initial CD4+ loss, and subsequently, pace of HIV disease course [20], [26], [65], [66], [67]. This evidence concerns the gene CD4 and infection.