This invention will enhance clinical monitoring by providing data that tells physicians if and when the HIV-1 infecting a patient has become resistant to commonly used antiretroviral drugs, such as zidovudine/azidothymidine (AZT), nevirapine and lamivudine (3TC). This invention provides physicians and patient care facilities with a simple, rapid lab test that will tell them when a particular antiviral drug is not or no longer beneficial for a patient. Additionally this technology is superior to current culture-based methods for determining phenotypic resistance to HIV antiviral drugs, which are time-consuming and labor-intensive and therefore impractical for clinical monitoring.