Possible Breakthroughs in Cancer and AIDS Research

FortKnox writes "Two possible medical breakthroughs have come to light in recent days. In Australia, it was discovered that pineapple extract can stimulate the body to attack cancer cells. And in Japan, Kumamoto University researchers have developed a drug that will block cells from the AIDS virus, thus making something akin to an AIDS vaccine." From the Australian news: "One of the molecules, CCZ, stimulates the body's immune system to target and kill cancer cells, the other, CCS, blocks a protein called Ras, which is defective in 30 percent of all cancers. QIMR researcher Tracey Mynott said her team had set out to find why the enzyme-rich bromelaine crush had such strong effects on biological material."

Comments

Breakthrough?*Yawn*

[InternationalCow]

Slashdot must be a little starved for news these days. I didn't even bother to read the HIV paper. There are so many compounds that can block entry of HIV into its target cells that one new one is not exactly a breakthrough. Ditto for the bromelaine - there are many many compounds that will kill cancer in vitro. How everything will work in the actual patient, that's something else entirely. Please wake me up when some realistic coverage of modern drug research is posted.

No

[A nonymous Coward]

I apologize for reading your post as a neocon rant. The Bushie crowd loves to spout about abstinence, and that is the first thing that comes to mind when someone mentions it.

As for morals, no, everyone has morals. My rant was about the holier than thou moralists who deny everyone else having morals that bugs me. It's bad enough that they are so smug as to assume they, and only they, know the One True Path, but when you peek behind the curtain, they all seems to have been practicing the opposite of what they preach. Then put them in charge of the Bushie's plan for fighting AIDs, and it only means that they will have no effect whatsoever on stopping AIDs.

Again, mea cupla on misreading your post as a rant from one of those holy hyprocrits.

Re:Oh sure

[ChrisMaple]

OK, jerk. I won't be be getting AIDS because I won't be acting foolishly. You are free to be a sod and suffer the consequences. Reality, as always, will not be denied its due.