Slashdot Mirror
HIV Immunity Gene Found In Rhesus Monkeys
Stile 65 writes "According to the BBC, the National Institute for Medical Research has isolated a gene in rhesus monkeys that makes them immune to HIV. Amazingly, 'only a single change to the human [version of the] gene is needed to enable it to block HIV infection.' It's a very different approach to treating HIV infection from the potential vaccine developed in Brazil and described earlier on Slashdot."
Not to suggest that we shouldn't cure AIDS, but eliminating HIV as a threat might have some unintended consequences.
Sure, but the need for increased spending on prevention/treatment of these other STDs would be more than balanced by the reduced impact of countless other diseases that prey on immunocompromised individuals. I do research on TB, and one of the reasons that bug has been resurgent recently (mostly in the Third World) is that it takes particular advantage of people with AIDS. The current treatment for TB is expensive and a pain in the ass to administer, and getting rid of AIDS would certainly save money (and trouble) spent on TB.
Well, he may not be a religious leader, but he's a religious leader: George W Bush, for starters. I'm told his administration has severely cut funding abroad for birth-control initiatives which even slightly chafe with his own religious convictions.
For instance if an organisation puts out literature on birth control which even mentions the word 'abortion', they're automatically de-funded. this is a side-effect rather than a direct effect but it stems directly from religious conviction.
Admittedly this is not a direct problem, but a consequence of a web of relationships.
I'm also told that numerous muslim "scholars" have spoken out against condom use.
Still, these major reports are the tip of the iceberg - regional religious authorities are far more likely to go against it than national or global ones which may have to respond to international attention.
And let's not even start on the falwells of this world that believe AIDS is God's Will
Screw you all! I'm off to the pub
This is one of the dumbest fucking comments I've read here in a long time. As of 2000, the US spent upwards of $7 billion fighting AIDS, $2 billion of which was just basic research. Some of this is done in collaboration with Third-World nations as well, not just targeted at US citizens. There is an immense effort to eradicate AIDS, and there have been many advances in short-term treatment (at least, for those in developed nations that can afford the drugs), and you're repeating the standard Slashdot whine about big pharma. Incredible.