 Gendin, despite not having a medical degree, had already been recognized as a genius and was offered membership into Mensa.After learning at age 19 that he was infected with HIV, Gendin quickly became at least as well informed about the latest HIV medical research as many leading HIV specialists, and remained so until his death.Gendin understood (as few others do to this day) that HIV diagnostic tests detect not the HIV virus but HIV's human antibodies, which do not exist in sufficient quantity for a "positive" HIV test result until between two and twenty-four weeks after HIV infection.