Despite significant pharmacological advances, the backbone of the most highly active antiretroviral therapy regimens for controlling HIV/AIDS is still a combination of reverse transcriptase inhibitors (RTIs) first discovered in the late 1980s. In Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors in HIV/AIDS Therapy, leading experts in AIDS/HIV drug discovery and development review all aspects of RTIs (nucleosides, nucleotides, and non-nucleosides), including drug discovery, pharmacology, development of drug resistance, toxicity, and prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV/AIDS. The authors synthesize our current understanding of the role of reverse transcriptase in the viral life cycle, describe the discovery and development of eight nucleoside and nucleotide analogs that represent milestones in treatment history, and thoroughly discuss the question of toxicity and resistance to this class of drugs. They also address three non-nucleoside RTIs and their pharmacokinetics and comparative clinical efficacy, new RTIs currently under development, and the impact of approved agents on treatment in general, and on vertical transmission in the developing world. Highlights include a thorough discussion of side effects, resistance, and treatment in the third world. Comprehensive and up-to-date, Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors in HIIV/AIDS Therapy offers a magisterial survey of the discovery, clinical development, current use, and future possibilities of all drugs that treat HIV/AIDS by inhibiting the viral reverse transcriptase.