Thinkin' about them theories

The three most interesting theories about how HIV crossed from simians to humans were: the 'Hunter', Contaminated Needle, and Colonialism theories.

The 'Hunter' theory acknowledges culture and food preparation practices as possible transmittance factors from SIV in simians to HIV in humans. It uses the idea of mutation and adaptation of the simian virus, which--after a term of gene and DNA lectures in biology--seems very plausible to me.

Likewise, the Contaminated Needle theory also explains the mutations of the virus in a similar way. This theory seems plausible as well, seeing as cost is a huge factor in determining how many needles will be available at a certain time, especially since there is knowledge now that HIV can be spread via contact with blood. Both theories involve "trading" blood, sharp and point things (knives and needles), and ways in which SIV/HIV could be spread (sharing tainted food, sharing tainted needles). Actually, this theory sounds even more plausible than the first because everyone needs meds, and reusing needles without sanitization is a 100% surefire way to transmit blood from one person to another... Right?

The Colonialism theory seems the most plausible out of the three. This theory takes into account the African labor camps created by colonial forces between the 19th and 20th centuries. It brings in a mixture of the two theories above and more: unsanitary and poor living conditions for the laborers, unsterilized needles repeatedly used for vaccinations, and hunting sick chimpanzees for extra food. Now that I think about it though, this theory places emphasis on poor health and weakened immune systems that allowed SIV to infect the laborers in the first place. That part sounds a little less likely than the other theories, but perhaps an infected laborer who had eaten an infected chimpanzee was the first to introduce the virus into the camps and then the virus was allowed to spread in all the other ways.

I definitely think it's important to understand how the virus was transmitted to humans, so that the evolution/mutation of the virus can be studied more effectively. Knowing the virus's true origins would give us a starting point to start extrapolating and predicting other strains.