Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is of the most common pathogens that infect human and non-human primates, and which may cause either acute or chronic infection. The uniquity of the HBV virus lies in the fact that it possesses a partially double-stranded DNA genome and the virus life cycle contains an intermediate reverse transcription stage catalyzed by the viral reverse transcriptase. Because of this and the ability of the virus to recombine, HBV exhibits a wide range of genetic heterogeneity. The g...