ERVW-1 and HIV-1 infection: Based on these observations, we hypothesized that somatic maturation of HIV-1 bnAbs could be also initiated by exposure of the host to non-HIV primary immunogens, leading to the generation of intermediate antibodies (iAbs) that can bind Env and quickly mature to bnAbs following HIV-1 infection or vaccination with Envs (secondary immunogens) [31–33].