what is the size of an HIV cell?

Answer 1

HIV is a virus, not a cell. It's like a rogue RNA strand so its roughly half the mass of a single piece of DNA.

Really, really small. Cells are gigantic in comparison.

- Cai

Answer 2

Size

The majority of viruses which have been studied have a capsid diameter between 10 and 300 nanometres. To put viral size into perspective, a medium sized virion next to a flea is roughly equivalent to a human next to a mountain twice the size of Mount Everest. Some filoviruses have a total length that can reach up to 1400 nm, however their capsid diametres are only about 80 nm. While most viruses are unable to be seen with a light microscope, some are larger than the smallest bacteria and can be seen under high magification. Both scanning and transmission electron microscopes are commonly employed to visualise virus particles.

A notable exception to the normal viral size range is the recently discovered mimivirus, with a diameter of 400 nm. They also hold the record for the largest viral genome size, possessing about 1000 genes (some bacteria only possess 400) on a genome approximately 1.2 megabases in length. Their large genome also contains many genes which are conserved in both prokaryotic and eukaryotic genes[3]. The discovery of the virus has led many scientists to reconsider the controversial boundary between living organisms and viruses, which are currently considered as mere mobile