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Crocodile's Immune System Kills HIV
ASEville writes "In an ongoing effort to stop the spread of HIV, scientists in Australia have discovered that crocodiles can fight off HIV and kill the virus. This is a major boon to medicine because the crocodile serum can also fight things that are penicillin resistant such as staphylococcus aureus."
Was carried out by Professor Wilkins in addition to HIV research he also is responsible for tractor mainentance.
Unpretentious Sydney reviews by unqualified Sydney reviewers
After we've practically wasted penicillin on diseases we should have erradicated such as TB, I'll be crying crocodile tears if we don't make swift work of HIV one day soon.
Saskboy's blog is good. 9 out of 10 dentists agree.
Sweet! Now Steve Irwin, The Crocodile Hunter, will be even more popular.
Now all we have to do is kill off all the crocodiles for the serum we need.
Good karma sticks to me like velcro on a piece of plexiglass.
Move along, citizen.
...How many animals they tested before they found crocodile fought off HIV?
Scientist: Perhaps pigs can fend off HIV?
*Lab_Assistant injects Porky with HIV
*Porky leaves channel (AIDS)
Scientist: Nope! Time to try eagle next!
Just a guy with an opinion
This opens the door for genetic enhancement of the immune system using crocodile DNA, but big pharma would go under of people were able to fight off those diseases which would otherwise turn them into "drug addicts" for life.
Trust me.. this'll go the same way as cancel did.
VLC FOR MAC IS DYING! IF YOU DEVELOP, PLEASE SAVE IT!!
HIV kills crocodiles!!
does that mean I can start saving money by not buying any condoms anymore?
Oh wait...for that to work I'd need a reason to use them in the first place...
Please correct me if I got my facts wrong.
"If you take a test tube of HIV and add crocodile serum it will have a greater effect than human serum. It can kill a much greater number of HIV viral organisms,"
/. editors don't read the articles submitted all the way to the end, so here's a bit towards the end that really matters:
Ummm.... So? The same thing can be said of chlorine bleach.
There are lots of known chemicals that kill HIV. The trick is finding one that leaves the patient alive. I know the
"However, the crocodile's immune system may be too powerful for humans and may need to be synthesized for human consumption."
There is nothing in the article to suggest that they have isolated the specific component that kills HIV, let alone determined that it is safe for human injection.
-Chris
-- This sig is only a test. If this were a real sig it would say something witty. --
Since I don't plan of fucking a Crocodile, I'm not sure how this effects me.
AHh forget it, this whole overlords thing is played out. Hmm...
In Soviet Russia...
Bah, that one's been beaten to death already too. Ok, I got it:
- Research croc immunity to hiv.
- Make a drug based off this immunity
- ???
- Profit!
I think ??? is probably "market that biatch" in this case. Wait, I think I ruined that one too. Ahh well.My patience is infinite, my time is not.
I, for one, would like to be the first to welcome our crocodile-human hybrid overlords.
Invest in crocodiles!
"If you are a dreamer, a wisher, a liar, A hope-er, a pray-er, a magic bean buyer
Antibiotics kill living bacteria. There isn't a single antibiotic that can disable a virus (like HIV), which isn't even alive.
The scientists probably hope to use modified crocodile immunoglobulin the same way we use animal-developed immunoglobulin as a tetanus antitoxin for patients who haven't been immunized... kind of a booster shot for patients fighting an HIV infection. The problem with animal-developed antibodies is that the human body recognizes them as foreign, and soon starts to mount an immune response against them as well.
Light a fire for a man and he'll be warm for a day. Light a man on fire and he'll be warm for the rest of his life.
Now there's going to be ten posts about welcoming our crocodile-human hybrid overloards.
We prefer to be addressed as "Republicans".
Shark based filtration systems :)
"CRIKEY MATE, wouldnt want a take a hit from one of those!"
"See what the HIV does is just go, nene ne ne nene ne all about looking for its food. ne nene ne ne nene all day long BANG! fucken huge croc grabs him, drags him under, death roll. CHOMP CHOMP CHOMP end of story."
If I wasnt married.
serenity now!
The human immune system is fully capable of killing HIV. However (dumbed down enough for Reuters readers) HIV infects T4 Lymphocytes, so killing the virus means killing your own immune system, and you die of obscure diseases.
The antibacterial angle sounds promising, though.
Do you even lift?
These aren't the 'roids you're looking for.
OK, I just made that up.
Has anyone actually proved that HIV causes AIDS?
I remember reading a very interesting article a few years back that implied that the HIV hypothesis was published without proper peer review by the US government because they were under pressure to be seen to be doing something.
Since then researchers only get government funding if they're toeing the accepted line and not challenging the theory. Worrying.
Basically if someone dies of pneumonia the cause of death recorded is dependent on their HIV status. If they're -ve it's pneumonia, if they're +ve it's AIDS. Same with a lot of other diseases.
Also HIV is the only virus in existance that is undetectable in the host during the terminal stage. Remember it's only the presence of antibodies tha reveals that you've had it...
What are you listening to? (http://megamanic.blogetery.com/)
Ich bin Schnappie, das kleine HIV-curing krokodil?
Scientists in Australia's tropical north are collecting blood from crocodiles in the hope of developing a powerful antibiotic for humans, after tests showed that the reptile's immune system kills the HIV virus.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antibiotic
An antibiotic is a drug that kills or slows the growth of bacteria.
A virus is not a bacteria..
Wonder how soon we'll see a real life version of Doctor Connors AKA The Lizard. He's a lizard of course, but that's close enough to a crocodile. Hopefully we won't become evil when fused with crocodile DNA.
Doesn't it seem like every other day someone comes up with a claim that HIV and AIDs will have a cure, soon, today, next year. Could hit the market in the next few years is turning into a famous cliche for HIV related cures.
In other news, still no cure for cancer. When will these scientists get there crap together.
It's like putting a gun to the head of the bacteria and pulling the trigger
Of course, they first make the bacteria an offer they can't refuse.
There are 11 types of people. Those who understand binary, those who don't and those who are sick of this lame joke.
CRIKEY!
so crocs heal up a ton faster than humans. okay.
their immune systems react much faster.
even if we use croc blood now, doesn't that mean the next strain of foo will be stronger and work regardless?
choice quote from TFA: '"The crocodile has an immune system which attaches to bacteria and tears it apart and it explodes. It's like putting a gun to the head of the bacteria and pulling the trigger," he said.'
I know the /. commentor's don't read the articles submitted all the way to the end, so here's a bit towards the end that really matters:
Attaches to bacteria, tears it apart and explodes
Along from the research being misrepresented in the headline (it appears that Croc immunoglobulin is more effective at killing HIV, not that it's 100% effective or is a cure of sorts), you've gotta wonder about this:
"Darwin's Crocodylus Park, a tourism park and research center."
--Tourism park and research center?? Maby things are backwards down there, but usually research centers are associated with large academic institutions..
This is a major boon to medicine because the crocodile serum can also fight things that are penicillin resistant such as staphylococcus aureus.
Call me crazy, but it seems to me that it's a major boon to medicine because it fights off and kills HIV. Don't get me wrong... drug resistant strains of staph certainly seem to be an important problem and all. But HIV! Even if this research just provides a little more insight into new ways to deal with HIV, that's huge. And it seems like it's potentially more than that. From the article:
"The crocodile has an immune system which attaches to bacteria and tears it apart and it explodes. It's like putting a gun to the head of the bacteria and pulling the trigger," he said.
That sounds like good news to me.
There are a lot of other real nasty sexually transmitted diseases - fungus for one, you don't want see illustrations of that.
V
m
As for retroviruses:
http://www.virusmyth.net/aids/index.htm
http://www.virusmyth.net/aids/tour/step11.htm
http://www.truthbeknown.com/aidslinks.htm
http://www.harmonikireland.com/print.php?topic=HI
http://curezone.com/dis/1.asp?C0=24
http://www.virusmyth.net/aids/data/bginterview.ht
the sun is god
Ok, I'll burn in hell.
Seriously, what Slashdot needs is a -1, Factually Incorrect moderation. Take a look at the National Institute of Health page on the issue. The "HIV doesn't cause AIDS" myth is possibly the stupid belief most directly harmful to its adherents. Even Scientology doesn't say "Trust us, arsenic is good for you."
That's hardly a proven fact. Someone really should dispute that page.
There's a small percentage of the human population that seem to be genetically immune to HIV, and another population that doesn't get as sick or sick as fast. Yes, scientists are using that info to try to find a treatment, cure, and/or vaccine.
If he takes you up on your million-dollar challenge, you may be out a few hundred $ for an insurance contract. Still, that's a lot less than what his health insurance company will charge him when they find out what he did to himself. Let's see, 99.9% X lifetime cost of HIV = LOT$.
On the other hand, maybe he'll get lucky... really lucky.
Or maybe he'll be one of the "lucky" ones genetically predisposed to get sick and die extra-fast despite the best available treatment, before those pesky medical bills get too high.
Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
This guy badly guy needs to RTFM!
http://www.bluewoods.org/photo/Thai/bitesml.jpg
No matter what nutty theories you choose to believe or whatever false data you make up, the fact remains that in the 1980's, a new sexually transmitted disease spread through the population. If you like to live a long and healthy life, practice safer sex or remain abstinent. If you are HIV positive, it's your choice whether you want treatment, but it's not your choice whether you may expose others; if you do, you may have to face legal consequences.
..correctly HIV is a peculiar strand of virii not taking one specific form but that of multiple forms that are ever changing.. which makes it rather difficult to make a cure. Basically why you can't cure the common cold ever time some one gets it... it changes and changes and changes, etc.. Now I can see how many companies would take the chance to profit off of even the idea that croc's hold the cure. Only time will tell...
?just for the sake of knowing what gave them the idea to test a croc? and I wonder how it feels?
Spammers are already promoting a product called "The Antidote" supposedly produced from crocodile blood. With these news I think it will get worse.
Here is the FDA's warning.
The worst thing about it is to realize that some desperate people are actually falling for this scam.
Stop worrying about the risks of nuclear power and start worrying about the risks of not using nuclear power.
Who'd wanna fuck a crocadile anyway?
And I suppose the kids in the African AIDS orphanages deserve what they get as well? Even though they were born with the disease?
Of course, that recessive "unprotected sex" gene must be wiped out from the gene pool.
Ignoring the fact that wisdom is most likely not genetical at all.
Some scientists believe that AIDS is not caused by HIV, but it is an autoimmune disease (the immunity system destroying itself).
Does this mean it's now safe for Republicans to have unprotected sex with Crocodiles?
cheap labor conservatives - they want to keep you hungry enough to be thankful for minimum wage.
! SITUATION! Your mom works as a paramedic saving people's lives. One night she rolls up on a multiple vehicle accident. A young girl, who is infected is trapped, your own mother, who is trying to help, cuts her arm while the blood of the girl is everywhere, so your mom gets infected, I guess with your attitude your mom just deserved it. Who is to blame though your mom or the INNOCENT girl's mom? You have a very perturbed view of this subject and should keep your mouth shut... and this is a very possible situation that could and probably has happened.
....I mean I see your point and all. Until it happens to YOU.
Doesn't mean someone won't believe it.
"The crocodile has an immune system which attaches to bacteria and tears it apart and it explodes. It's like putting a gun to the head of the bacteria and pulling the trigger," he said, "dodge *this*".
Visit http://ringbreak.dnd.utwente.nl/~mrjb/growingbettersoftware to download your free copy of the book
So lets make supergerms by overusing this new technology with common colds and what not.
It's hopeful for the "hospital bacteria's" though. I *really* hope docs wont make the same mistake as they did with inappropriate overuse on antibiotics before.
I think we can keep recursing like this until someone returns 1
The only reason I just gave links (which I got from another place) is because not having something good enough written. I've got this, a shitty re-writing from the last link (which is insanely long).
People that have HIV are said to eventually get AIDS, and there was made a treatment for this: AZT. This treatment is the same to cure cancer: the way this works is by killing all cell production in the body, so the cancer breaks down (because it's just a part of your body, cells growing wrong) hopefully before you do. This is essentially what AIDS does, and the AZT treatment is much more intense than for cancer patients.
HIV doesn't really do anything, it's a "retrovirus".
"The retrovirus basically seems to be a squatter virus, it doesn't want to kill anybody in the house, it just wants to move in" *
When you found viruses before, was when you looked for a disease, so that's why it took so long to find HIV.
There's 25 diseases that's been in existance for a long time, which are all clumped into as AIDS.
HIV kills far less cells than what are re-created all the time by the body - 0.1% in a day - during the same time the body has regenerated 30%. Hepatitis kills 100%, flu 30%.
For other diseases, if they can spread by (in most ways), it's basically 50% divided between genders, for AIDS it's 80% males, 20% females. Which he says corresponds to the same percentage as heavy drug users.
It's said HIV takes 10 years to "start working". It's not that for any disease. Either when a doctor doesn't know stuff about a disease, they either say it's "slow to start working" or "kills the immune system", HIV is said to be both. In the interview, he explains the "10 year period" as the amount of time of heavy drug abuse which would be needed to tottally fuck up your body.
"Virtually all heterosexuals with AIDS are long-term cocaine and heroin users. And orally consumed drugs, which includes to some degree cocaine, but mainly the ones that are used by the gays as aphrodisiacs, or to facilitate anal intercourse, like the nitrite inhalants, ethyl-chloride inhalants, Quaaludes, PCP, LSD, Ecstasy, and all of the combinations of things that they're using"
If you're on heavy drugs, then you don't feel the need to sleep or eat - and this is the highest reason for immune deficiency (AIDS) in the world.
the sun is god
... that the carrier of said immune system kills HIV carrying patient in the process.
This message has been ROT-13 encrypted twice for higher security.
wasn't there something similar to this involving baboons and bone marrow a while ago. Forgive my ignorance, I don't follow the medical science field much. I mean granted it's great we've found yet another animal with properties capable of defeating this virus, but how can they possibly use the crocodiles tougher immune system within humans? Last time I heard the whole baboon bone marrow idea wasn't going so well at all.
Don't steal our standard jokes you insensitive clod!
Ka-boom! There's nothing like crocodile nano C4 charges.
Anyway I always believed that coldblooded animals (especially crocodiles) have slower body metabolism. And maybe they really have, therefore they developed stronger protective mechanisms compared to warm-blooded animals (including humans).
I'm not insane. My mother had me tested.
Don't read /.
or
Don't whine about it.
whiner
Maybe what we need is a few more million years of evolution!.
It borders on a trick question. People don't per se die of immune deseases they die from the lack of an immune system. Dumb and irresponsible arguments like this cost lives. This argument has been made in Africa by some countries and has kept people from getting treatment causing a massive exposion and millions of lives. The desease is virtually a 100% fatal to everyone that contracts it. There are a percentage that seem to have a natural immunity to it. Drugs extend life but people and the desease build up a tolerance to the drugs over time so new drug treatments are the hope for most. Current drugs buy time.
Might want to check your facts on the only virus undetectable, I believe you'll find there are others. A lot of viruses are detected through antibodies in part because they are easier to test for. Prion deseases also defy direct detection. Partly because we all have Prions in our bodies and the desease causing variants are identical to the benign ones. Marburg and Ebola Restin are difficult to tell apart yet Marburg is deadly and Restin so far is benign in humans and our bodies can fight it off. Pseudoscience is dangerous and HIV and AIDs are one in the same. It's symantics saying they are different conditions.
Do you wish to face HIV or the crocodile?
Those who like to have unprotected sex can restrict themselves to crocodiles with some assurance of safety. Crocs are unlikely to have AIDS or to contract it.
Loose lips lose spit.
... How many people read an article like this, run off, and lick a whore? Noone ever pays attention to the details of a story and investigate what exactly is going on. The other day there was an article in a magazine about how Classic support would be dropped in the x86 Macs, and someone was talking about how all the old programs for the mac wouldn't work, and was telling everybody about how if you buy a mac today, it will be obsolete in 2006. He didn't have a clue what he was talking about, and I couldn't correct him. I see this type of ignorance all the time. People should just start flipping coins, and then picking what they want heads or tails to stand for when it hits the ground, and just do it. So much stupidity in the air, and so little true intelligence. I'm gonna go lick a dirty whore now, and get HIV. I'll then go to my doctor and tell him to inject me with alligator sperm to make it all better. Then I'm gonna get shot in the ghetto, and goto the police department and tell them to just use forensics like on TV to catch the person. People are so blinded now days.
Sig: I stole this sig.
You mean it wasn't before?
how funny that by having unprotected sex... it might actually be possible to extend the human species and pass that gene on... (of course this is just a theory, i'm gay.)
Either that, or they ask "Now I know what you're thinking, did he fire 6 antibodies or only 5? Well, being that this is crocodile serum, the most powerful serum in the world, and can blow your mitochondria clean off, you gotta ask yourself this question: Do I feel lucky? Well do ya, FUNK?"
Just because you can mod me down, doesn't mean you're right. Shoes for industry!
If you want to know the truth about HIV and AIDS, I suggest to look for a file called:
[Documentary].HIV-AIDS-Fact.Or.Fiction.DivX.avi
Summary: HIV doesn't cause AIDS. Drugs, like AZT do. HIV is a unharmful virus, like a cold.
our own gene pool is fairly well stocked http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/03/05032 5234239.htm
At next reboot
What you've said is a common misconception about crocodile fucking. Few people plan on fucking a crocodile, but it can happen to just about anyone.
Wait a sec, I think I got my subjects mixed up. Ah hell, time for another bong rip. Ahhh, that's better. Now where was I, oh yes, Just make sure you carry a condom in case you run into a crocodile.
"As for retroviruses"? You think HIV can't be an STD because it's a retroviruses?
A retrovirus is just a virus that incorporates its own DNA into the DNA of infected cells. Besides that it's like any other kind of virus and can still spread like any other virus, through semen for example.
Or maybe you admit it's contagious and just think it's harmless.
This wikipedia article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HIV
and the sources it links to give a pretty details explanation of how HIV disables the immune system, and that means AIDS.
Should someone tell Bill Frist that HIV can't be transmitted by crocodile tears?
But does it run linux?
R.E.M. - Hope Lyrics you want to go out friday and you want to go forever. you know that it sounds childish that you've dreamt of alligators. you hope that we are with you and you hope you're recognized you want to go forever you see it in my eyes. I'm lost in the confusion and it doesn't seem to matter you really can't believe it and you hope it's getting better you want to trust the doctors their procedure is the best but the last try was a failure and the intern was a mess. and they did the same to Matthew and he bled 'til sunday night they're saying don't be frightened but you're weakened by the sight of it you lock into a pattern and you know that it's the last ditch you're trying to see through it and it doesn't make sense but they're saying don't be frightened and they're killing alligators and they're hog-tied and accepting of the struggle you want to trust religion and you know it's allegory but the people who are followers have written their own story. so you look up to the heavens and you hope that it's a spaceship and it's something from your childhood you're thinking don't be frightened you want to climb the ladder you want to see forever you want to go out friday and you want to go forever. and you want to cross your dna to cross your dna with something reptile. and you're questioning the sciences and questioning religion you're looking like an idiot and you no longer care. and you want bridge the schism, a built-in mechanism to protect you. and you're looking for salvation and you're looking for deliverance you're looking for deliverance you're looking like av idiot and you no longer care. you want to climb the ladder you want to see forever. you want to go out friday you want to go forever.
I'm merely quoting a 10k word interview.
Wikipedia doesn't really tell me much: "The normal ligands for this receptor, RANTES, macrophage inflammatory protein (MIP)-1-beta and MIP-1-alpha, are able to suppress HIV-1 infection in vitro" Ooooooook...
I don't care about it, just a weird bunch of links a friend gave me, I've read the last one. It seemed interesting, so I gave slashdot those links.
What do you say about not sleeping / eating being a reason for immunodeficiency? Just being up 15 hours I can feel my body breaking down.
the sun is god
(sorry i fucked up the other post :/ )
R.E.M. - Hope Lyrics
you want to go out friday
and you want to go forever.
you know that it sounds childish
that you've dreamt of alligators.
you hope that we are with you
and you hope you're recognized
you want to go forever
you see it in my eyes.
I'm lost in the confusion
and it doesn't seem to matter
you really can't believe it
and you hope it's getting better
you want to trust the doctors
their procedure is the best
but the last try was a failure
and the intern was a mess.
and they did the same to Matthew
and he bled 'til sunday night
they're saying don't be frightened
but you're weakened by the sight of it
you lock into a pattern
and you know that it's the last ditch
you're trying to see through it
and it doesn't make sense
but they're saying don't be frightened
and they're killing alligators
and they're hog-tied
and accepting of the struggle
you want to trust religion
and you know it's allegory
but the people who are followers
have written their own story.
so you look up to the heavens
and you hope that it's a spaceship
and it's something from your childhood
you're thinking don't be frightened
you want to climb the ladder
you want to see forever
you want to go out friday
and you want to go forever.
and you want to cross your dna
to cross your dna with something reptile.
and you're questioning the sciences
and questioning religion
you're looking like an idiot
and you no longer care.
and you want bridge the schism,
a built-in mechanism to protect you.
and you're looking for salvation
and you're looking for deliverance
you're looking for deliverance
you're looking like av idiot
and you no longer care.
you want to climb the ladder
you want to see forever.
you want to go out friday
you want to go forever.
Well.. Church roof can fall on anybody. Thats another harsh reality.
:-)
And to make it less flaimbaitish - I myself aint got AIDS, but I have another viral disease, which is almost as uncurable as aids (Hepatitis C).
I didnt get it as part of natural selection - it was purely coincidental, and well - I didnt really deserve it, at least from atheistic point of view, heh.
However, after a while I grew to live with it, as well as I am somehow... less egocentric now, accepting thought that shit can happen to anyone, including myself, and shit always can be a lot worse too.
oh well </rant> - I really wouldnt mind cure for my disease, and I wouldnt mind if it would be used on people who "deserved" their disease - its always nice to have second chance
Dephine URL
There is a published paper on croc serum in a low impact journal. From the abstract:
Not much chance for using it as an anti-viral agent.
This is perhaps the worst example of scientific reporting I have ever read. The author has no idea what he is talking about, seems to think that "antibody" and "antibiotic" are synonyms and that the mechanism behind bacterial and viral infections and defense is the same and interchangeable.
Finally, "consuming" crocodile immune systems seems to be the answer. As if it wasn't enough that people had to eat shark cartilage, now everyone will be trying to eat crocodile bone marrow, lymph nodes, spleens, etc...
Well done Reuters, just what the world needed. Even MORE disinformation.
Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
He meant to ask, "is it safe for crocs to have sex with the republicans?"
Of course not silly croc, Republicans are chock-filled with STDs (thanks to the no-prophylactics rule).
Regardless of whether a learned behviour has no genetic component, it follows that it is still Darwinism when a lethal force acts to remove it from the population. As Dawkins has so ably decribed, memetic effects have an equal, if not greater effect on species fitness (partciularly in complex organisms like humans). For example, take a group of Calahari bushmen and a group of New Yorkers. Both groups are, genetically speaking, practically identical. But transpose their environments, and I can guarantee the New Yorkers would be in dire straits within days. How the Bushmen would fare in the Apple is another matter. The only real differences between them are those of culture, making their memetics paramount to their survival. Memetic traits can be passed regardless of genetic lineage (everyone reading Slashdot right now is exchanging memes).
Sue Charlton: How does he find his way in the dark ?
Michael J. "Crocodile" Dundee: He "thinks" his way. A lot of people think that they're telepathic.
[Sounds of branches breaking]
Neville Bell: OOOOh, I hate bush!
A study in 2000 proved that 3 South African prostitutes were resistant to HIV strains from the region. They also found a significant group of kenyan prostitutes with relative immunities to small doses of HIV virii. Interestingly as soon as the women started getting money from the researchers for co-operation with the studies, they lost their immunity.
Should it come as a surprise that the Human immunodeficency virus is killed by something in crocodile serum ?. There are things in the human blood stream which can kill off HIV, but most of us lack these mutated T-cells (which are killed off by the normal cells) in sufficent quantity to beat the infection completely.Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum videtur
and let's hope that we can find cure's for illnesses such as Cancer. I will be losing my friend soon due to skin cancer. You are/feel totally helpless.:(
Java Oracle Linux Enthusiast
you'll be taking croc...
And does this mean that drug users looking to avoid infection will be shooting up with croc cocaine?
I hope this will help us in the fight against HIV and also help us realise, that every animal or plant species which faces extintion, takes with it such a possibility.
it is better to let nature take its course.
I will remember this when you come into my emergency room, shall I? You are mortal too. You just haven't realized it yet.
What about the dead haemophiliacs? What about the medical staff that have an accidental needle stick? And of course what about the children born into this world with HIV?
If we follow your argument then we all deserve to die because everyone is guilty of something. Even you. When you have your heart attack I will just hold the tPA (aka "clot buster") in my hand and remind you how harsh the world is, and let you die, shall I?
We have a duty to do everything we can to improve the lot of our fellow man - because one day we are the ones who will need all the help we can get. You reap what you sow.
Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
All your HIV are belong to Crocodiles. Move all gators! Make your time!
HA
HA
HA
I guess with your attitude your mom just deserved it.
Not only that, but even in the case of IV drug use or promiscuity, no one deserves to die for making one stupid mistake and thinking it wasn't going to happen to them, if that death can be prevented in any way. And nowadays it CAN be prevented.
Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
Shit!
Huh? yuppie flu is just a fancy name for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Following your google search link, the first real site it found was wrongdiagnosis.com and this is what it has to say about CFS. It then goes on to advise taking steps to treat the symptoms of CFS as a way of improving life.
Acyclovir (brand name Zovirax) is used to treat herpes infections.
So you're trying to tell us that you were cured of a disease that as no known effective treatment by a herpes cream? Perhaps your GP just recognized that a regular dose of "placebo effect" can be very effective when treating psychosomatic based illnesses.
"Oh my god nooooo, run for your life!! It's got a microphone"
"Look at my teeth so clean and white, you other fools bet'ah get out'ah my sight
Yeah you bet'ah run before I break you fools metatarsals, Oh yeah, I got more rapping than a game of 'Pass the parcel'.
You think this shit comes from a whack immune system? If you believe that then you be lacking wisdom."
"Nooo, it's too late, it's so awful"
frankly this is old news and i believe its been on slashdot before hiv is just the tip of the iceburge crocodillin can destroy in seconds super virus's that were up until its find where immune to any known antibiotic this wasnt found by testing on crocs it was found when a crock pulled a woman in to its water rippedh er leg open and she got infected with a super bug it was eating her flesh and was basically unstoppable what made them think tho was the same crock had itsl eg ripped off in the same pool and survived not only did it survive but within hours he had allready began healing this started the research that found the protein/antibiotic in the crocs bloodstream.
I Predict A Riot
Mass extinction of worldwide population of crocodiles due to new, more aggressive HIV mutation.
Genocide by STD? uhhh.
Anagram("United States of America") == "Dine out, taste a Mac, fries"
http://www.babyfly.de/images/bilder/zoo/schnappi.m p3
...amd make it snappy!
Some have suggested that sharks may also offer hope in the fight against HIV/AIDS, although others have questioned whether sharks would develop an immune response to something they are very unlikely to encounter. This could have been true for crocodiles, but apparently not. Like sharks, crocodilians have extremely strong immune systems, so perhaps it's not too surprising that they're able to deal with the virus.
There is no such thing as "nature" its just a term we use for all the stuff that happens that isn't done by humans.
The thing about being a (supposedly) intelligent species is we gave up on the whole waiting millions of years to evolve to adapt to something, and use our brain power to alter ourselves or our environment to deal with it.
You may as well complain our ancestors shouldn't have used tools or worn animal skins, because don't they allow people to survive when they otherwise would not? Shouldn't nature have "taken its course"?
One of the evolutionary advantages of intelligence, societies and communications is it only takes one individual to have the idea, and it can be spread and everyone can benefit. This is true for tools, clothes, shelter and medicine. The moment we started using them, we pretty much gave up on the whole "natural" survival of the fittest thing.
But you are welcome to give it all up and go live in the wilderness with only the things you, personally, can make.
As everyone will point out, you can get HIV without having poor judgement. However, there is natural selection at work. A few people seem to be naturally resistant to HIV-AIDS. These people are being natually selected.
"Did I do that?"
p.s. lol, his pants are too high!
Weet je wat ik wil ?
Een opblaaskrokodil
Om geen AIDS te krijgen
Ondanks de lekkere wijven
That ain't no seringe!
Awright -- time to go bareback!
Ho, never thought I'd be the subject of a Slashdot news report.
Time to clarify things.
TFA contains a number of errors. First the statement I made about HIV is true, but as others have pointed out it does not mean we've found the cure for AIDS. It simply means that we've compared alligator serum and human serum and found the former significantly more effective at killing the HIV virus than human serum. It was intended to illustrate the overall efficacy of the crocodile / alligator immune system, that was all.
Second, these are not antibodies. Croc immune system works primarily through the innate or complement system, which does not involve antibodies. It's a simpler and more primitive immune response than the adaptive immune system that is key for mammals, but the advantage is that it's very direct and hence difficult for bacteria etc to evolve resistance to. It's "primitive" nature may be behind its effectiveness.
The main finding here is that the alligator / crocodile immune system is far more effective at killing a wider range of bacteria (gram +ve and gram -ve), viruses and fungi than our own immune system. When you've evolved over 235 million years, and your daily social behaviour involves biting limbs off other crocs, you need a good immune system! It clearly has potential medical implications down the line, but that's a long way off yet. First we have to fully understand what makes croc immunity tick. We are still trying to purify a protein which we believe is an antimicrobial peptide, but hopefully that will happen very soon after this recent work.
Eventually if anything does come of this, and we can isolate a "factor" that has human medical implications (and is safe for humans, unlike the far more effective chlorine bleach) it would indeed be synthesised. Adam Britton
I'm willing to bet that the side effects of this will be that a super bug (like antibiotic resistant staph) will emerge that will wipe out large numbers of crocodiles.
These defensins have been found in many different organisms, from fish to plants to humans. I think this article is actually talking about an innate immune response, since adaptive immunity requires previous exposure to a pathogen, leading to production of specific antibodies. Defensins have a fairly broad anti-microbial activity, and some have already been isolated and shown to be effective against gram-positive and -negative bacteria, fungi, viruses and insects (no one defensin acts against all these, though)
Sick of WoW? Try the thinking man's MMORPG: EVE Online
CFS is not a psychosomatic based illness.
My brothers girlfriend suffered from CFS for years.
It was eventually cured using a course of uppers and downers (very strong doses over a couple of years).
A politician once campaigned that a few jobs were a lot more important than some minor species living in a field... This seems so damn funny in light of this news. If it turns out that crocodiles can provide the next penicillin-like leap and a years later the last crocodiles die off, that politician will have some fun.
http://www.fws.gov/endangered/i/C0U.html
The poster appears to be the subject of TFA.
I've read that chimps were infected with a HIV like virus in their history which killed off a large amount of them, the only survivers being those immune to it. Also didn't we originally get HIV from eating chimps?
"Religion is the most malevolent of all mind viruses." - Arthur C. Clarke.
Excuse me?! MARKET?
If you find the fucking cure for AIDS you'd best not be trying to fucking profit from it.
Question everything
I've read a fair bit of Peter Deusberg's theories.
To start off with, he's not a nutcase. He's done some important work with oncogenic viruses, and was the recipient of an outstanding investigator grant.
This grant was revoked because of purely political reasons, which is blatantly unethical.
My genetics professor for my senior year in college (2000) confirmed this when I talked to him about Deusberg, saying that Deusberg had been treated unfairly.
Of course, neither I nor my college professor agree with Deusberg's hypothesis, but the criticism of HIV research done by Deusberg and others has suffered a lot of political suppresion, particularly when HIV was first being discovered and people were in panic mode. Deusberg has not been treated fairly, and the political suppresion has had the effect that unjust censorship often does. If you want shoddy science, frankly, Fauci's early HIV research contains more than enough of it to go around. And the scanning electron microscope pictures of HIV attacking CD4 cells deserved to be questioned, since SEM photos are easily biased (take 100 photos and pick the one you want.)
AZT was approved for HIV treatment quicker than almost any drug in FDA history because it was rushed through. There's still no valid scientific study that I'm aware of that proves AZT extends lifespan, and the Concord Study was horribly flawed, with people in the experimental group sharing their medication with those in the control group to try and "help" them - a criticism of Deusberg's which is relevant to the current debate. As of 3-4 years ago, AZT was still a component in antiviral cocktails with scientists unwilling to do a controlled study for "ethical reasons" comparing it to the tuskeege institute study, etc. ( not sure about presently)
AZT is a highly toxic DNA chain terminator and was used some time ago as chemotherapy against cancer. Ironically, it's capable of simulating the effects of AIDS (i.e. immune suppression.) If you take AZT, you will get chemotheraputically induced immune suppression that mimics AIDS.
Further, almost none of the "AIDS" cases in Africa (possibly excluding S. Africa) are confirmed via western methods - i.e. either an ELISA test or PCR. If you have a disease associated with immune suppresion, you're assumed to have HIV. Starvation combined with other stressors can also cause immune suppression.
The grandparent poster was correct in that HIV almost never infects a person by itself - there's almost always some other co-infection, in part because HIV is such a weak virus. Deusberg's claim was that HIV was a marker virus, which remains an accurate description even if HIV does cause AIDS. HIV is almost always an indicator of other infections. Even people who have been subjected to HIV contaminated needlesticks are unlikely to actually get HIV. HIV is often an opportunistic infection itself, that takes advantage of a strained immune system or a break in the body's defenses.
As for this article, it seems a bit overblown to me. Scientists have been searching for an animal model for HIV for a while. I haven't kept up in the research recently, so what I'm saying is about 3 years behind the times or so, but frankly I'd be more impressed if human HIV was found to replicate inside crocodiles and cause illness rather than the opposite. There are plenty of animals which are not harmed by the HIV virus and the lack of effective animal models was a longtime problem in HIV research. Nothing new here.
I'm not so interested in crocodile antibodies, which I doubt would help humans. But if crocs have an interferon-like component to their blood, perhaps that could be useful.
___
It's the end of my comment as I know it and I feel fine.
TFA should be taken with a grain of salt.
This sentence " Britton said the crocodile immune system worked differently from the human system by directly attacking bacteria immediately an infection occurred in the body.
"The crocodile has an immune system which attaches to bacteria and tears it apart and it explodes. It's like putting a gun to the head of the bacteria and pulling the trigger," he said."
doesn't sound like a medical opinion at all to me.
Remember that HIV like most retroviruses is very sensible to outside conditions which is why it can be transmitted only by direct contact with body fluids or contaminated neddles and such, but only for a short period. A slight pH, temperature variation will destroy it. What are the evidences of antibodies actually affecting the virus?
And more, in vitro studies have been proved wrong when applied in vivo. HIV during it's latent stages is located mostly inside lymphatic tissue, how would that influence the crocodile serum?
It's either Reuters writing a poor article or a rushed public statement that is not supported by actual evidence.
You must be new to the human race.
You can make a killing by patenting something that has the potential to give people the chance to lead a semi-normal life, then charging out the ass for it.
Yes, GlaxoSmithKline, I'm talking about you, you soulless motherfuckers.
But doesn't HIV stand for Human Immunodeficiency Virus? Maybe the reason HIV doesn't take hold or is easily fought off by a croc's immune system is that a crocodile is not, as you might have been led to believe, a human.
...who fucked a crocodile in the ass?
If you find the ***extrememly useful product goes here*** you'd best not be trying to fucking profit from it.
I'd rather someone profits from a cure to a disease, than no one profits from no cure to a disease that continues to kill people.
If you put your human penis in the crocodile cloaca, just know you are in the pink AND the stink at the same time!
Blar.
Crocodile serum....or hang on a mo, was it snake oil?
Who cares, it's all good reptile juice!
Straight up, croc serum can't be controlled with an iron fist. First they need to isolate it in such a way that it is no longer a naturally occuring substance...
So everyone who reproduces is a 'winner', and everyone who doesn't is a 'loser'? Biologically perhaps but, socially or intellectually?
"why is research only valid if it comes from an academic institution?"
I am not sure either how this thought process became so prevalent in the US. It seems that unless you are backed by or hold some sort of certificate of authority from an academic institution, you don't get a chance or the work you do is dismissed as untrustworthy. That is true these days on so many levels, it's scary. Even when you have a hard and fast track record of out-performing academically backed or educated institutions or individuals, the performance is dismissed by many. Is it because those who are 'attached' are threatened in some way? Is it so hard to believe that people and institutions can succeed and think and prosper without the assistance or help of academia? We as a society are severely hobbling our progress by doing this. Many of our greatest thinkers and inventors and scientists in this country (and the world) were actually non-degreed or had immense difficulty and or failures with the academic systems. An academic education or academic backing is simply there to provide an extra step toward success, nothing more. Lack of it is not an indicator of not having the ability to be successful at all. Far, far too many people seem to look at it in the reverse light that it was never intended to be viewed.
BTW- If you think this is a rant by a non-degreed individual, non-post graduate individual, you are wrong. I do hold a degree(s), in the field in which I work, and I feel that it has little or no bearing on my ability to perform my tasks successfully. I work with people every day who have a higher level of education or the same level from a more prestigious institution than I, and I find many of them, well, quite frankly, stupid. I also find many of the people who have succeeded, without the help or backing of academic institutions have a greater demonstrated ability to harness the information presented to them and make efficient use of it. They had to get where they are.
Really, is there any other way.
I'm sorry. The economy you are dialing cannot be reached. Please hang up and try again. If you need help, dial "G" for Google.
-Adam
The AIDS Cocktail can run $10,000 - $15,000 per year. Since the research has allready been done, the drug companies are looking at almost pure profit on the manufacture of the pills.
Given the corporate behavior of Enron and Worldcom I'm disinclined to trust Merk or some other pharma corp to do anything altruistic with a one-shot cure/vaccine for AIDS.
Killfile(TGK)
No trees were killed in the creation of this post. However, many electrons were inconvenienced.
Excuse me?! MARKET?
If you find the fucking cure for AIDS you'd best not be trying to fucking profit from it.
Right. You better run and go tell the pharmaceutical companies and all the scientist pouring millions of dollars are years of research into this quickly. I am sure they would hate to spend millions of dollars and years of their lives only be told fuck you when they finally develop a cure. If your asinine knee jerk opinion ruled policy, research into new medicines would grind to a halt as scientist and investors go find something better to do with their time.
So, here is an alternative idea. Instead of complaining when someone develops something useful and doesn't give away years of their life's work and millions of dollars of investments away, how about you quit bitching, open your wallet, and donate to a charity that will buy the drug for people who can't afford it.
If you don't like it, get your own PhD and millions of dollars and go find a cure yourself.
Is the Hulk also immune to HIV?
> no one deserves to die for making one stupid mistake and thinking it wasn't going to happen to them
Our friend Mr. Darwin does not agree.
"People who are foolish enough to have unprotected sex... [deserve to die]"
The argument makes little sense. If it wasn't for STDs, it wouldn't be 'foolish' to have unprotected sex in the first place (assuming some form of oral contraception is used).
Hello, can the posters of slashdot please read the friggin article before headlining falsely??
""If you take a test tube of HIV and add crocodile serum it will have a greater effect than human serum. It can kill a much greater number of HIV viral organisms," "
That does not say KILL the HIV virus. Sensationalism is best left to FOX news, not Slashdot.
BROOKLYN
HIV is a virus and antibiotics work on bacteria. The article makes little sense. If you look in the literature for info about the monitor lizard you will see that this is old hat for reptiles.
% 201999.pdf
http://www.komodonationalpark.org/downloads/ciofi
These guys kill by sepsis and other lizards are unaffected by these nasty bacteria
The research has already been done???
So, where's the cure? Oh, not there yet. Maybe it'll take MONEY to actually get there.
You are re-fucking-tarded.
Perhaps that's why there's so many advertisements for "erectile disfunction" drugs on tv?
If you can't make money curing disease, then many will focus on what does make money.
Not to say poor patients don't deserve treatment of course ( seems a good use of Government subsidy ) but to say people shouldn't profit from doing good things is to say people shouldn't be encouraged to do good things.
A Human Right
Right. They should work hard at this for years without making any sort of living to put a roof over their heads, feed their families, or care for themselves in their old age. What a wonderful way to reward the people in our society who do great things. Why didn't we think of that sooner?
I commend this kind of research. It is very comforting to know that it is now safe to have sex with crocidiles. Well... at least it's safe for them.
The question being, does a company cure 100,000 people for 10 dollars a piece, or cure one person for a million dollars.
How do you think the scientists who actually invented the cure would answer?
just musing.
So without RTFA, I'm imagining a new shrinking process (like from that old movie where they shrink the ship and get injected into the guy) where they shrink crocodiles down to roughly the size of the HIV virus and it simple eats it.
Truly brilliant, if you ask me. How do they kill the crocodiles once they're done with the HIV? Maybe inject some mini scorpions? I don't know, who are the natural predators of crocodiles?
Wer mit Ungeheuern kämpft, mag zusehn, dass er nicht dabei zum Ungeheuer wird. --Nietzsche
It's like putting a gun to the head of the bacteria and pulling the trigger
Of course, they first make the bacteria an offer they can't refuse.
Leave the gun; take the cannoli^W crocodile.
I want to drag this out as long as possible. Bring me my protractor.
Why does a comment like this get marked insightful?
It shows a complete lack of understanding of economic forces on the part of the parent and the moderators. It also demonstrates utter contempt for those who would spend a lot of time and money to make all of our lives better.
Medical research and development is, like every other field, never free.
Lefty: Hey Zeke, it's your turn to go down to the pit and get some more croc serum.
They hope to develop an antibiotic to fight a virus? What University did these so-called "scientists" graduate from?
> read an article like this, run off, and lick a whore?
If that the first urge that pops into your head when reading the article I think you have bigger things to worry about...
- For the complete works of Shakespeare: cat
The research for the AIDS cocktail has been done, and it's making companies somewhere between five and fourteen thousand per patient per year. That was the GP's point.
A one-time cure for AIDS would net a biotech firm maybe as much as a year on the cocktail. Worse, it could provide immunity, and at the least it'd give the person a strong incentive to practice safe sex. Compare that to ten or fifteen years per patient, and you're talking about a 90% reduction in profits (after a temporary boom).
The scientists may answer with 100,000, but the marketers (or should that be 'marketeers'?) would answer, "We don't want to cure anyone - we want to treat the symptoms for life." There's a lot more money in life-long dependence on drugs than any cure. Sad, but true.
Tiller's Rule: Never use a word in written form that you've only heard and never read. You will end up looking foolish.
How in the hell was this moded "Insightful"? This is socialist bullshit.
Truly interesting research. It'll be curious to see how it goes when they start injecting chimps with this stuff.
For some reason I refuse to use either spell check or the spacebar properly.
How about hemophiliacs? Troll.
If something from a Crocodile can teach us how to cure AIDS in humans, what about all the endangered or extinct species? Maybe this will bring some more attention to the fact that we NEED other species around to learn from and co-habitate with. It would really suck if we killed off some kind of plant that was going to hold the key to solving a horrible disease of the future.
I agree with you, but note that marketing does not imply making a profit.
A company which makes zero profit still has to pay its costs, such as wages for the scientists, and so still needs revenue.
It matters. When you inject a foreign protein (or most anything for that matter) in your body you mount a defense to it. This can lead to flu-like symptoms and flat out rejection of the treatment. Even when you have HIV your immune system is still kicking around albeit in a weaker state. The last thing you need is to deal with HIV and some foreign protein.
What will probably happen with this knowledge, assume it's viable, is the generation of chimeric antibodies, i.e. those with human and non-human components. What happens is you take the active bits of the non-human anbtibodies, find the gene, and then insert that into a human antibody gene. This gene is then expressed in some eukaryotic critter, e.g. yeast. The end result is that you can largely bypass the problems of the body mounting a defense against the antibody because it mostly looks natural. Pretty cool, eh?
In case you're wondering, yes this approach could work. HIV attacks the part of your immune system that mounts a defense (the cells that say "Hey, I remember this. This is how we fixed the problem last time" -- the exact cell name escapes me at this point in time), not the antibodies themselves.
Ya'll need to get this straight and keep it straight.
"Cures" are altruistic concepts that gain people's sympathy, so that they (the sheeple) are more willing to donate money to fund this crap.
The key to it, if you think like a drug company, is to pour billions into "Treatments". Follow me here...
Treatments mean that you can hold back the detrimental effects of the disease, while keeping those affected people coming back for more "Treatments" -- at a price.
"Cures", unfortunately, mean that affected people will (eventually) *NOT* have to return for more -- THEY ARE CURED.
Cures do nothing for the bottom line of a drug/research company/project. Treatments do.
There is absolutely NO ECONOMIC INCENTIVE for anybody to develop CURES. Got that?
Now, do you understand why "Cures" are always years distant? And treatments are available or just around the corner?
FPO
"It would really suck if we killed off some kind of plant that was going to hold the key to solving a horrible disease of the future."
Indeed, but then again, if it's gone, how would we know, especially a disease in the future? Quite possibly happened already---maybe dinosaur egg shells held the key to curing AIDS, cancer, and baldness?
Meet the new sig, same as the old sig
Or worse, be born without AIDS and then be raped as an infant because of the FUD spread by tribal "doctors" that you can cure yourself of AIDS by having sex with a virgin.
There's no sense of "deserving" in the theory of evolution man.
"Deserve" is a stupid human ego-inspired word.
Cheers
Stor
"Yeah well there's a lot of stuff that should be, but isn't"
Are they seriously suggesting that we feed people with HIV to crocodiles in order to kill the virus?
tone
tone
I don't think "not knowing" is a valid excuse. I'd much rather give the benefit of the doubt to them being important and commit to preserving them just in case, in the least to protect our own selfish interests.
You ignore the possibility that the poster takes care of himself so much that it simply is unlikely that he will get sick.
You also ignore the possibility that he may accept his fate if he does get sick, because of his POV.
That is, you ignore the possibility that one must not necessarily be a hypocrite if one adopts a POV that is potentially harmfull (to ones self).
I'd prefer it if people would stop harassing others with different views, even if they are "unsocial". I am not saying that we should not help other people with diseases, but stop being complete assholes over other peoples opinions.
Indeed, but then again, if it's gone, how would we know, especially a disease in the future? Quite possibly happened already---maybe dinosaur egg shells held the key to curing AIDS, cancer, and baldness?
*sigh* You're right. It's safe to say we're all doomed! DOOMED!!!!
Seriously, we're screwed.
Live forever, or die trying.
HIV - HUMAN Immunodeficiency Virus
There are a number of forms of *IV - Most of them have major trouble jumping species. Good immune system or not, a virus that affects humans is going to have serious troubles infecting another species, especially a reptile. Many such virii have trouble even jumping between closely related species. (HIV vs. SIV)
This holds true for a number of other virii - Take Ebola Reston for example. Deadly to primates, but can't infect humans. Same for SIV (Simian Immunodeficiency Virus). Most of the time SIV can't take hold in a human. (Although once or twice it has, and HIV evolved from there.)
retrorocket.o not found, launch anyway?
Still no cure for cancer.
I have always hoped that should a real cure for AIDs be developed that the United States government would sieze the intellectual property and put it into the public domain.
Of course, any siezure of property has to be (1) in the public interest, and (2) fairly compensated. I know I'd happily support a politician who advocated such an action, regardless of how much money it might cost.
The other interesting scenario would be an ultra-rich executive or even a company who wanted to secure their place in history. Could a private individual purchase the rights to such a thing? Would a company think the forgone profits were worth the enormous PR boost? Wishful thinking perhaps.
What's the alternative? Have the same pharmacuitical industry complex distribute the drug? I mean we have drugs that cure malaria and all sorts of other things, and we still can't/won't get it to the people who need it. I'm not a naive bleeding heart -- I know the distribution and other problems in Africa (in particular), but we have to at least try, right?
Why not?
The scientists have to eat, pay their rent, and hopefully put their kids through school.
The people that make the drug also have to make a living.
Unless a GOVERNMENT is paying for all this research then of course they are going to market it and make money. Odds are the "richer" countries will pay for the the poorer countries to get the drug as they do now.
Why is making money from a drug that saves peoples lives more evil than making money from guns, food, real estate, or video games.
You could say that people need these drugs to live but people also need food, shelter, and clothing to live.
See my blog http://ilovecookes.blogspot.com/ for light hearted technical information.
Be sure to thrown in the maniacal laugh of an evil genius, eh?
I always thought that Nano tech was the answere to the incureable diseases. Clearly I see this research if propperly funded producing a cure for hiv. Fyi The shark has been on this planet for over 300 million years...it is from what I understand immune to cancer. I wonder what research is being done on that?
Wounderful so we make a lot of this vacine, disribute it out to the masses in poor countries and at some point we lose quality control and disribute and even deadlier crocodile virius to the human population. Remind you of anything? Oh yeah thats how we got HIV in the first place.
http://www.uwarfare.com the Best Seattle Counterstirke Community
Since crocs have been around since dinosaurs they have probably had to deal with many many variations of virii, bacteria, etc. Many have probably come and gone and may come again through mutation. By being exposed they have probably been quite successful at creating various defenses. Perhaps croc blood contains millions of antibodies for countless extinct microscopic invaders. The only problem with that theory is that over time those immunities may disappear if they are no longer needed or a benefit. It may not happen quickly, but over 1000 generations that resistance may go away.
Well, there's only one way to be sure. I'm going to go inject some croc blood and bang a few hookers to try this theory out!
Ninjas don't carry tic tacs
"&spell=1" - which one did you misspell? :)
What part of the immune system are we talking about? "too powerful" in what sense?
Generally, a crocodiles teeth & powerful jaws make humans unable to survive inside of a living crocodile.
ba da bing
Sorry, sex is the last thing I think of when talking about Hillary Clinton and Nancy Pelosi. And unprotected sex with those two crocs is definitely out of the question - even with someone else's dick.
(It just wouldn't be Slashdot without an unnecessary, ignorant, Republican bashing from Slashdot's left-wing groupthink, would it?)
Not for the crocodiles.
It's my opinion that there will, at least in the mid-long term, not be a cure for AIDS.
Why?
Treating the disease is more profitable than curing the disease.
After all the patents run out, and the treatment drugs become publicly reproducable, then, like a miracle, the company will come out with a real cure, and they can keep those profits up. Keep the shareholders happy.
The research for the CURRENT aids cocktail has been done. And the money being made from that product is paying for future development on better cocktails and cures.
This is basic business. Current product pays for future development.
As for finding a cure, it would be a great humaitarian achievement that would be massively hyped. It would also make a lot of money as there are MANY people who aren't getting the cocktail now. Someone would pay, possibly even Bill Gates.
I've been receiving spam for months pushing something called "THE ANTIDOTE" (all caps, please, exclamation mark optional), which is supposedly derived from crocodiles. The spammers claim it will cure SARS, HIV, influenza, bird flu, swine fever, athlete's foot, creeping nose warts, stammering, incontinence, the heartbreak of psoriasis ("Christ, you don't know the meaning of heartbreak, buddy"), Huntington's chorea, St Vitus' Dance, St Matthew Passion, St Elmo's Fire, Tickle-Me-Elmo, the Black Death, the Yellow Peril, jungle fever, morning breath, flat feet, fallen arches, golden arches, cellulite and cirrhosis. Among others.
I'm used to seeing spammers jump on the bandwagon to push whichever medication is currently getting media coverage with at most a couple of days lag time, but the 'crocodile! ANTIDOTE!' spams began months ago. Should scientists stop doing original research and just sample the spam-stream to look for the next miracle cure?
Very insightful. If I had points you'd be 5 in my books.
For he today that sheds his blood with me shall be my brother.
Why not?
Because people, you and me, should not have to:
A- worry about being able to afford a vital medication
B- have to go through the beurocracy of today's insurance companies, who, being businesses themselves, probably wouldn't cover you with a terminal illness because you don't fit into the "good ROI" category anymore.
The scientists have to eat, pay their rent, and hopefully put their kids through school.
COME ON! The guys working on this are not starving artists. They are well-educated people with well-paying jobs. How much "profit" does one need to "eat" and "pay their rent?" What the hell are they eating?
Why is making money from a drug that saves peoples lives more evil than making money from guns, food, real estate, or video games.
Not evil, just stupid, greedy and selfish. It is a benefit to society, and for some it will mean the difference between life and death. You want to put a price on that? How much is life worth? Lets see, this guy is probabably worth $xxxxx if he goes on living with our drug, so he OWES us that!
You could say that people need these drugs to live but people also need food, shelter, and clothing to live.
Who are you talking about? The starving scientists again, the people who need the drug, or people in general? Today some people are living on a shady line between making ends meet, and living on the street (oh i think i feel a song coming on... NO! STOP IT! STOP THAT! sorry...). Many of them either A- can't afford insurance, or B- the insurance they have sure as hell won't cover a super-premium drug needed. So they end up on the street where they can die faster... yay capitalism!
"It can kill a much greater number of HIV viral organisms."
Won't this lead to the creation of an HIV supervirus as we kill off most, but not all of the organisms?
Sean Connery Agrees.
"I'll take The Rapists for $400!"
"That's 'therapists'"
They've already been profiting from trying to cure it - do you know how much charitable cash goes to AIDS research?
Lick a whore, of course! It's the missing link!
Or we kill off ALL other species! Then there's nothing for diseases to jump from to infect humans!
Man, I've been saving myself billions of dollars by doing my own research. And you know what? I found the cure for aids:
1. Abstain from sex with multiple partners or partners of the same sex.
2. Don't do drugs!
Weird how free that research was.
The problem is, the people that propagate the virus are the ones that don't want to hold themselves accountable for their own actions.
The world is made up of Ends, Causes and Effects. Don't hold me accountable for your poor decisions in life.
Did you know in Africa, one of the biggest problems with the spread of aids isn't the lack of a cures, its that people that have aids actually believe having sex with a virgin will cure their disease.
Good luck big Pharmas beating that.
It is for secondary infections, remember you have open wounds forming in your lungs with TB and all sorts of nasties can get in there.
An Education is the Font of All Liberty
allow me to be insenstive for just a sec. Anyone paused to think that mayhaps the syndrome is around to ensure that human kind doesn't over populate the world?
I notice that the story says that this might also be effective against staphylococcus aureus. Obviously this particular serum is going to take many years to be developed into a viable human-usable treatment; does anyone know of anything that is currently available (without prescription) which can be used to treat it?
Since you are the actual researcher doing this, do you ever think it's sad that we may take something as ancient and successful as the crocodile's immune system and essentially popularize it to the point where bacteria and other germs basically have to evolve ways to conquer it?
It seems like the essential result of successful research is that crocodile's will be far more susceptible to pathogens due to our meddling. I just think it's sad that we might end up saving masses of chickens in some agricultural jiffy-pop factory and at the same time killing off 'monsters' that have survived since basically forever.
So while there is nothing wrong per-se with your individual research, do you ever consider the moral implications of how your research will be used?
The HIV cells hide in other cells while they reproduce. Consequently, during that time they are undetectable by anti-bodies or T-Cells that are 'patrolling'. The reason people are able to survive longer with HIV now is because scientists are getting good at giving medication that will help people to attack the viruses while they are trying to find a new host cell. Essentially, this allows a person with HIV to keep their virus count low, without actually eliminating it from their system. *Please note, that the level and accuracy of the details I provided are based on my subjective understanding, and should not be taken is fact.
You're pronbably some virgin who never went to a party where drugs or vagina was present.
...dying of AIDs seems an attractive solution compared to milking crocs.
Well, if public companies are supposed to maximize profits by law, what do you think they'll do?
It would really suck if we killed off some kind of plant that was going to hold the key to solving a horrible disease of the future.
Conversely, it would really suck if a new mutation of a plant appeared in the future that could cure a horrible disease...and was subsequently overwhelmed by plants that we'd saved.
It's a two-way street. If species don't die off, new ones can't flourish. Don't pretend that you can comprehend what's best for a system as large as the earth.
Anyway, it's not as if it would be catastrophic if say, an entire species of crocodiles died tomorrow - there are hundreds of species of crocodile, and most are very similar in characteristics. The article doesn't mention a specific species of crocodile because it's probably not important.
Same goes for any other species.
Man is the animal that laughs.
And occasionally whores for Karma.
There is no cure for AIDS.
Let me say it again. There is NO CURE FOR AIDS.
This stuff comes out all the time. For several years this flash in the pan news story makes remarkable "promising" headlines for exactly one day and then no one ever hears of it again. We can't even begin to pretend we understand enough about HIV to make a "cure". Once you have it, you have it. You can treat it, but nothing else. There is no HIV vaccine either, exact same BS. I mean, annually there is an estimated $682 million spent (June 2005 study)
Please allow me to hate the creator of the 120-character limit: *HATES*. Thank you.
no one deserves to die for making one stupid mistake and thinking it wasn't going to happen to them, if that death can be prevented in any way.
Who are you to say? And who is the OP to say anyone does deserve to die?
You don't know any of these people well enough to say what they deserve. You probably don't even know yourself well enough. Given that you might be wrong, you can risk either helping someone survive who doesn't deserve it, or allowing someone to die who doesn't deserve it.
Which mistake would you rather make?
Star Trek IV anyone? ;)
Don't know about the other two, but I'm pretty sure most dinosaurs where not immune to baldness..
So far, more viruses have made it from animals to humans (through mutation) than cures have found the other way around.
Not that I recommend making monkeys extinct for giving us the AIDS virus.
By now you might be thinking about how lab animals help us find cures, but that's not the same: they're being used for testing cures invented by humans, before being administered to human guinea pigs.
In this case the cure is found in crocodiles, quite different from using them in tests.
...and if I don't get it fixed I'll die, but I'm not about to demand the government sieze me a sandwich, or even a sandwich recipe.
"Anyway, it's not as if it would be catastrophic if say, an entire species of crocodiles died tomorrow - there are hundreds of species of crocodile, and most are very similar in characteristics. The article doesn't mention a specific species of crocodile because it's probably not important."
One might say the same thing about humans.
Any man who afflicts the human race with ideas must be prepared to see them misunderstood. -- H. L. Mencken
With that being said, I'll bet $10 Dodo serum could've cured Cancer.
Hades, PoD: Official Advocate
It's a two-way street. If species don't die off, new ones can't flourish. Don't pretend that you can comprehend what's best for a system as large as the earth.
That's not what's been happening - we've been eradicating species left and right for a good 200 years, and new ones usually don't pop back up in their place because we're there.
"We returned the General to El Salvador, or maybe Guatemala, it's difficult to tell from 10,000 feet"
It would be great if we could skip those 999 that won't work, but until we find a better method than trial and error, we have to pay for all the errors with the profits of the success. This is a very common model among research and development industries.
Glad to see there's finally a reasonably painless cure. All those of gay persuasion should visit Australia or Africa and engage a croc for a cure.
Modern research is showing that most dinosaurs which left sufficiently detailed fossils were feathered. So it could be a serious problem. They'd look like vultures with teeth.
-aiabx
Just this guy, you know?
Well said, sir. Wish I had mod points.
Don't let the facts get in the way...
http://www.crocodilian.com/
says there are 23 crocodile species.
Additional plugins are required to display all the media on this page.
The arrogance of youth is so [strike]charming[/strike] obnoxious sometimes.
There's no sense of "deserving" in the theory of evolution man.
I agree entirely. However we are human beings, with brains, capable of rational thought and able to make decisions about our future. Shall we ignore all of this equipment we evolved with, cast medicine aside, and subject ourselves blindly to evolutionary forces?
I am a physician. I admit that my job consists of working AGAINST evolution. I admit that in the long term my work will increase the amount of disease in the human population simply be ensuring the survival of people who otherwise would have died before mating. Inefficient, defective genes are being passed on because of me.
But on the other hand there is compassion. I am sworn to first, do no harm to you, and second - try to benefit you if I can. No I don't think you should die if you want to live and I have it in my power to help you. Life is short enough as it is! If you don't understand how important compassion is to us humans, well: when it's your turn to get sick, I will show you.
Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
the sun is god
"feudilism"
I considered removing the spell=1 but decided it didn't matter...
-Adam
I thought crocodiles were badass, but even their *immune system* can kick your butt!
Are crocodiles immune to CIV (Crocodile Immunodeficiency Virus)?
"I don't think "not knowing" is a valid excuse"
It's not an excuse, it's a question to the statement of how it would be a tragedy that a species holding some cure were to go extinct. It would be. but..
How WOULD you know if an extinct species were the source of some panacea that would aid a current or future disease. Perhaps a species could also be the source of some virulent "future plague"?
I know I wouldnt mind seeing the swarms of mosquitoes where I live join the 99% of all other species that have existed on the planet during its history.
Meet the new sig, same as the old sig
That's the one I probably would've messed up, too. :)
"*sigh* You're right. It's safe to say we're all doomed! DOOMED!!!!"
Well, the odds are not in our favor---extinction (whatever causes it) is the rule, not the exception, and the sun only has about 5 billion years left.
We had better start looking at space colonization NOW!!
It would be a real shame if one of those extinct species held the secret to interplanetary space travel.
Meet the new sig, same as the old sig
HIV dead, Netcraft confirms it
Get your Unix fortune now!
Now we just need the technology to shrink the crocodiles to microscopic size, then inject them into the bloodstream of an HIV patient.
Mike van Lammeren
It will challenge your head, your brain, and your mind.
Lets see some proof for those rediculous statements...
" If we follow your argument then we all deserve to die because everyone is guilty of something. Even you. When you have your heart attack I will just hold the tPA (aka "clot buster") in my hand and remind you how harsh the world is, and let you die, shall I?"
Tell me which emergency room you work in, and I'll come by and have a talk with your boss about your latent "angel of death"
tendencies.
Yea, how selfish can you get? Saving millions of lives and he wants to profit from it!!!
Like we want to encourage that sort of behavior? If my kid ever saves 1 million lives I'll tan his hide I will.
Profit is reserved for things like soda and rap cd's, you know, the stuff that we want to reward people for making.
Gatorades
- Preserve endangered species in the face of an ever-increasing threat from a growing human population.
- "Learn from" these species in order to find cures for deadly human illnesses, thus drastically lowering the death rate.
- Repeat Step 1 (until it becomes impossible in the face of overwhelming numbers of humans).
On the positive side, I guess if you eradicate all the STDs you can screw with abandon as we hurdle toward self-destruction.You don't need bleach to kill HIV, soap and water do just fine.... not that I'd suggest injecting soap into your veins, but it sounds moderately safer than bleach. ;)
I only personally know of two people that died of AIDs. Both from blood transfusions. They sure as hell weren't drug users. Are you talking just to feel your bowels vibrate?
Cure for HIV ?
:)
Linux vs Windows ?
Something about space ?
Linux on an iPod ?
Another successful slashdot day and its only noon. Slashdot is working harder so I don't have to.
You're missing the part about how African HIV is a heterosexually-transmitted disease. The prevalent strains in the West are spread through homosexual sex.
More people are having heterosexual sex worldwide than homosexual sex. Hence, you have a worse epidemic in areas where it's spread heterosexually.
Also, when you have poverty and low education, the status of women is lower, meaning that you have more women who can't refuse sex without a condom (or who are being raped). This also helps to spread the disease.
Maybe this will bring some more attention to the fact that we NEED other species around to learn from and co-habitate with. It would really suck if we killed off some kind of plant that was going to hold the key to solving a horrible disease of the future.
AIDS, Ebola, and other nasty deseases may never originated at all if the Congo basin was properly drained for development and all harmful species removed.
an ill wind that blows no good
I can see that A company might hold of on doing such research, but the problem with that argument is that there are many companies and the one that does develop a cure will put all the others out of business in that disease. In this case, "the prisoner's dilemma" works for the public at large.
Can you be Even More Awesome?!
Well, some people here on slashdot hold the view that a "clean" genetic pool with a few people starving, dying of curable diseases etc. is somehow better than helping humans. Disgusting.
...to be the guy that has to tell the croc that I gave her AIDS. If you think people react badly to that, imagine how the croc would react. They call their lawyers for everything, and crocodile lawyers are known to be quite talented when it comes to tort law.
My other computer is a Jacquard loom.
I'm tired of people in online discussion forums preceding every vicious insult with the words "you, sir." For example, "You, sir, are an ass," "You, sir, are a coward," etc.
Stop it. It only makes you look haughty and pretentious. No one in the 21st century speaks that way in real life. (If you DO, then this advice applies doubly to you.)
Stop saying "You, sir."
Animals can be disease vectors (see Asian flu scares) or sources for cures or vaccines for certain diseases (e.g. smallpox vaccine using cowpox virus).
A couple vacationing in the outback are shocked to see a man having sex with a crocodile. A few more miles down the road, they see *another* man having sex with a crocodile. When they finally return safely to their hotel, there is a man with a peg-leg in the hotel lobby masturbating. Outraged, they complain to the hotel manager, who says:
"You can't expect a man with a peg-leg to catch his own crocodile!"
This message has been scanned for memes and dangerous content by MindScanner, and is believed to be unclean.
And how can they continue to be well paid if the companies that employ them lose money? Keep in mind that for every drug that gets approved, 15-20 fail in expensive clinical trials and many more before they even get to clinical trial. If a company can't make enough on their successes to pay for all the failures, they will go out of business.
So what do they mean "kill" a virus?
-"...bad old ideas look confusingly fresh when they are packaged as technology" - Jaron Lanier (Digital Maoism on Edge.o
On a more serious note, Give'em hell Adam, Even if this is just another ingredient in the coctail it's still going to make millions of lives more bearable. That is a truly heroic endeavor.
Storm
"The crocodile's immune system is much more powerful than that of humans, preventing life-threatening infections after savage territorial fights which often leave the animals with gaping wounds and missing limbs." This should inspire a new way of attacking HIV: savagely attacking each other so that humans can evolve stronger immune systems. (:
For e.g. we kill rats to stop the spreading of plague, and mosquitoes to stop the spreading of malaria.
Yeah, like that'll ever happen - may as well try to kill all the roaches. Most of the species we eradicate live in isolated habitats, which we then bulldoze for whatever reason.
"We returned the General to El Salvador, or maybe Guatemala, it's difficult to tell from 10,000 feet"
Does this discovery mean that it is safe to have unprotected sex with crocodiles?
-------------------
Steve Stites
"COME ON! The guys working on this are not starving artists. They are well-educated people with well-paying jobs. How much "profit" does one need to "eat" and "pay their rent?" What the hell are they eating?"
Just how do you think these well paid people get paid???
"You could say that people need these drugs to live but people also need food, shelter, and clothing to live.
Who are you talking about? The starving scientists again, the people who need the drug, or people in general? Today some people are living on a shady line between making ends meet, and living on the street"
I am talking about everyone. If it is stupid, greedy, and selfish to charge for a drug then it is just as greedy, stupid, and selfish to charge for food, shelter, and clothing.
While your at it. You are also stupid, greedy and selfish for buying any cd, ipod, computer, tv, or eating out. Every cent that you spend and every resource you us could go to help one of those people you are talking about.
You really do not have much of a grip on reality. everyone else is greedy, stupid, and selfish to want to get make a profit. Yet YOU should not have to worry about how much any medical treatment you need should cost?
I am not saying that drug companies do not over charge for some drugs. However the stock holders do deserve to make a profit on their investment. For all you know you maybe one of them if your 401k plan happens to have invested in them.
See my blog http://ilovecookes.blogspot.com/ for light hearted technical information.
Nope. Turns out, it's only crocodiles. We should kill off everything else to make more room for them.
[insert witty quote here]
Genetic engineering may someday provide a counterpoint to this effect - if we don't wait for blind chance to improve our genes, but start doing so deliberately (or at least avoiding/correcting known problem cases/genetic diseases) we can still survive as a species.
"Nature" is whatever happens, including human interference. We're PART of nature, not above it somehow. We happen to be wildly successful, that's all. I'm sure most species in Earth's history would contend they got a raw deal, but in the end it's all about survival. Nature is interested only in what works, not in what is "right."
Oh, wait... wrong forum.
"He was a wise man who invented beer." -- Plato
This is basic business. Current product pays for future development.
_ industry.htm:
And marketing and other functions, of course (basic business).
From http://www.mercola.com/2000/jun/24/pharmaceutical
According to its annual report, Pfizer spent 39.2 percent of its revenues on marketing and administration in 1999
From http://www.cpa.org.au/garchve5/1090pharm.html:
These [top ten drug] companies had the greatest return on revenues, reporting a profit of
18.5 cents for every $1 of sales, which was eight times higher than the
average for all other listed industries. Commercial banking, for example,
only returned 13.5 percent on revenue.
The drug industry also dominated others by realising a return on assets of
16.5 percent -- almost six times the average of 2.5 percent for all other
industries.
This is all well and good for now, until crocodile-resistant strains of these diseases evolve through our overuse of crocodile serum... And then the crocodiles are going to be PISSED.
https://www.eff.org/https-everywhere
Huh? Nature has been eradicating species left and right for around 2 billion years now. In massive quantities. The mass extinctions of historical note are an order of magnitude greater than any human caused extinctions.
What, new species can't exist where old ones did previously? So what if there is a highway there now, that just means some other kind of creature can now inhabit that area.
Also, are you willing to wait for evolution to create brand new species for us to exploit? How long would THAT take?
Humans are just another species of animal on the planet. We are just doing what is in our nature, like all other life forms that have ever existed.
Whats the big deal? You still cannot pretend to know whats best for a system as large as the earth. We just do what we do. As is the way of life.
Reporters aren't generally called scientists, nor do they graduate from university, although they ARE very well schooled to be able to babble utter and complete bullshit in names of other people.
Since when is the US the only country doing AIDS research?
Croc of shait to me.....
David Icke was right - we're going to be taken over by 12ft shape-shifting lizards (well - crocodiles)... Which are immune to HIV and other assorted bacterial and viral infections...
Ph33r
Exactly. The more species we kill off (hopefully thousands per year if we aren't already doing that), the more diversity we will have. Yeah! That makes plenty o sense. :(
You're missing the point entirely. Conservation is not about maintaining the health of the planet it is about maintaining biodiversity. Humans aren't just another species on the planet. If we were just like any other, we'd still be naked apes. What sets us apart is that we have the intellect to find ways to alter our environment to suit us, by say, building cities. However with this comes the fact that when we alter an area to suit us, we essentially destroy whatever that area used to be, and if it was a limited area of habitat in which some isolated species lived, bye bye to that species. The more this happens, the more the biodiversity of the planet suffers, and if it goes on too long, the plethora of species inhabiting our planet has been reduced to a sorry handful. Whenever a species is wiped out, everything that made it special, unique, and beautiful is gone forever. Whatsmore, the link it formed in the endlessly complex chain that is the ecosystem is broken. There is no question that the extinction of a species at our hands is detrimental to the ecology of the planet. What we can tell about a system as large as the earth is when our actions are causing problems. Immediate examples of this are pollution, ozone depletion, climate change, and habitat destruction, to name a few. With our ability to alter the environment should come a responsibility not to screw it up.
GET THEM INSIDE THE VAULT!
Lawyers?
This sig is intentionally blank
your logic is specious at best. the extinction of one species does not equate to the preservation of another species, and vice versa. that's why most environmentalists try to preserve bio-diversity not overwhelm an ecosystem with a few particular species so that everything else gets killed. biodiversity = genetic diversity = more chances of us learning/benefiting from other species of organisms.
"It would really suck if we killed off some kind of plant that was going to hold the key to solving a horrible disease"
Indeed, but then again, if it's gone, how would we know, especially a disease in the future? Quite possibly happened already---
Rather than a specific plant or animal saving us from a specific disease, it is really that less biodiversity results in much less chance at finding treatments for many different diseases, present and future.
I've got some good news and some bad news
- The good news: The seed of this plant cures all known forms of cancer.
- The bad news: We just destroyed the last known seed of this plant to find that out.
In real life, a number of animals (and probably plants) have been taken to, or beyond, the edge of extinction by 'harvesting' for the (purported) medicinal uses of various body parts, and others are well on their way there.Sometimes boldness is in fashion. Sometimes only the brave will be bold.
How the fuck do you Troll an answer to a reply to your post? -- JACKASSHAT
Having a lack of white blood cells (a critical component of the immune system), or something that attacks white blood cells considering transmitting is possible, would indicate an acquiring of deficiencies in the immune system, yes?
If I really am talking out of my ass...explain it to me with respect so I'll at least pull my ears out to listen.
The ignorance of older people is so [strike]charming[/strike] obnoxious sometimes
(you seem to have missed my point)
wtf?
making a drug that fights HIV would completely fucking sell
how about
1. Research croc immunity to HIV
2. Make Drug based off this immunity
3. Sell the drug
4. Roll in piles of money and the entire world's* gratitude
*except for select religious nuts
the sun is god
The guy I got the links from says you can fix it by going raw vegan. He also says staring into the sun improved his vision.
the sun is god
that abstinence is viable?
Every person I know that is over 16 makes sex. A lot. In many cases (single people, no current steady relationship) with a different partner every week. And I live in the biggest Catholic country of the world.
Now, what the Catholic Church (*) does is lobbying our government to stop free condom distribution... do you really think that without condoms all the crowd having sex will turn to abstinence? NO. They will turn to unprotected sex.
(*) And George W. Bush. Do you know that we had to refuse US funding because the Bush administration demanded that all foreign recipients of AIDS assistance must explicitly condemn prostitution, thus we could not distribute condoms for free for the prostitutes in the streets? Do you think the thousands of new condom-less US$3 hookers will go out of business or they will start having unprotected sex?
There is no abstinence, really. Not for the great majority of the world's population.
It's better to be the foot on the boot than the face on the pavement. ~~ tkx Kadin2048