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Three-Dimensional Structure of HIV Revealed

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the better-understanding-certainly-can't-hurt dept.

Mutatis Mutandis writes "The BBC is reporting that a team of scientists from Oxford, Heidelberg and Munich has created the first accurate three-dimensional images of the HIV virus. The virus was found to have an average diameter of 125 nanometers, well below the wavelength of visible light. In the past the structure of viruses with a regular structure has been produced by 3D reconstruction techniques that work on a set of electron microscopy images of different viruses, but the irregular structure of HIV does not allow this. Scientists have now used a tomography technique that employs a series of images taken from a single virus, somewhat similar to the better known X-Ray CAT scan, but on a quite different scale." Structure also has a video of the 3-d rendering available for download. Relatedly an anonymous reader writes "A research team at Brown University has genetically modified bacteria found in yogurt so that the bugs produce a protein proven to block HIV infection in monkeys. The results offer hope for a microbicide that can prevent the spread of HIV, which now affects about 40 million people."

2 of 189 comments (clear)

  1. I'm sorry if this sounds like a troll, but... by 0m3gaMan · · Score: 0, Flamebait


    I'm getting pretty irritated with the amount of money which is continuously poured into AIDS research. There are dozens of other diseases which deserve more attention, NONE of which can be prevented by something as simple as wrapping your pecker, for instance.

  2. Re:Does HIV Really Cause Aids? by bit01 · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    I'm not saying your wrong, but the evidence you've given only proves correlation, not causation.

    It could well be that HIV is an opportunistic infection that happens when some unknown virus causes AIDS. Or that HIV works in tandem with another virus to cause AIDS.

    At one stage there were some cases of HIV not leading to AIDS that have not been explained, though I don't know if that's still true.

    Given the medical establishment's very poor record on comparatively simple diseases like stomach ulcers (helicobacter pylori) I am inclined to be very wary of evidence from studies funded by drug companies with a major financial interest in perpetual treatments, not cures.

    ---

    Open source software is everything that closed source software is. Plus the source is available.