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Researchers Modify T-Cells, Make Them HIV Resistant
DieNadel writes to share that naturally occurring proteins called "zinc fingers" are being used in a new approach to AIDS treatment. Using modified T-Cells with the zinc fingers, researchers at the Pennsylvania School of Medicine have shown a reduction in viral load in mice. "'By inducing mutations in the CCR5 gene using zinc finger proteins, we've reduced the expression of CCR5 surface proteins on T cells, which is necessary for the AIDS virus to enter these immune system cells,' explains first author Elena Perez, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Penn. 'This approach stops the AIDS virus from entering the T cells because it now has an introduced error into the CCR5 gene.'"
Aren't we having a zinc shortage? Get it from these fingers!!
Oh wait...T-cells. I thought it said T-Virus.
As opposed to what, being a good "con" and doing what?
I would like some background to what I can only parse as a retarded attempt to politicize with a statement that must've taken a whole 5 braincells to parrot.
These guys claim we have 20-30 years at the current rare we're using Zinc. It's the 23rd most abundant element in the earth's crust. I don't see this being an issue right now (2011), but will inevitably be one
what *else* do these surface proteins on the T cell do?
maybe there is something those altered structures do that we will miss when they stop performing their function...
not everything in the body is superfluous like the appendix or wisdom teeth.
"If still these truths be held to be
Self evident."
-Edna St. Vincent Millay
Haven't we learned not to modify T-Cells already?
The world is going to end in 2012 anyway so why worry.
Undetectable Steganography? Yep, there's an app fo
sorry. I had to.
Prediction: The real iPhone killer is going to be sex robots from Japan. Think about it.
But this technology may provide a way to defend against this virus. By changing the "shape" of our T-cells it will prevent the virus from recognizing its target. This would render it ineffective and be effective against the numerous variants.
Of course, this is still early in the development cycle. There's always the chance of unintended consequences...
Talk about completely misreading even the one paragraph blurb. Zinc fingers are a large group of protein sub-structures which are used to interact with DNA. This group used them to induce a specific mutation which now seems to be HIV resistant How long this will last is really up in the air though, HIV and all other RNA viruses evolve very quickly.
Who wrote that summary? They can't even get the name of the school right - it's the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.
Man, them's some shitty editorial standards you've got there.
Anyone else read this as a CRC error?
"Researchers Throw Finger at HIV"
That sounds like a great plan. Insert errors into our genetic code until the virus leaves us alone. That's got to work.
Because....
We run out of zinc, jackass!!!
Under the influence of Post-Cyberpunk Gonzo Journalism
Do it
Roughly half my comments are never submitted. You may be reading the better half...
As opposed to what, being a good "con" and doing what?
Conning people?
Ignore this signature. By order.
I know this is offtopic to the article, but ontopic to the parent post.
Just because the Mayans calendar ended then means what exactly? They didn't even invent, let alone UTILIZE the wheel...
I'm glad this was modded funny and not informative, every time someone says this I die a little inside...
I find your dating example pretty ackward,
I've never seen a sexy T-cell before but anyways...
--- I am known for the ones who want to find me on the net. Is that a privacy risk or a privilege? One might wonder..
What happens when someone with AIDS rapes someone?
What happens when someone with AIDS passes it along to their unborn child (a rare occasion now due to modern medicine)?
Get off your high horse tool. Some people are infected not because of their behavior, but fate. A fix should be available for them, as well as everyone else infected.
Just because the Mayans calendar ended then means what exactly? They didn't even invent, let alone UTILIZE the wheel...
Not only that but they were able to predict "the end of the world" and yet utterly failed to foresee the end of their own civilization?
Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
Well, if zinc runs out, HIV will be the least of our worries; none of us can survive without it.
Seriously, the amount of zinc in these "zinc fingers" (which already exist in our bodies) is a trace amount.
I know this is offtopic to the article, but ontopic to the parent post.
Just because the Mayans calendar ended then means what exactly? They didn't even invent, let alone UTILIZE the wheel...
I'm glad this was modded funny and not informative, every time someone says this I die a little inside...
The Mayan calendar isn't ending... they're just adding a new digit... much like what will happen in the year 9999 for us.
WARNING! This girl exceeds the MAXIMUM SAFE standards established by the FDA for BRATTINESS
The world's gonna end on Diablo III's release date?
Random Thoughts From A Diseased Mind (Not For Dummies)
What happens if you get AIDS while trying to help someone who is injured? Unprotected sex is NOT the only way to get HIV infections. If it was I would agree with your stance; but it is not. Just because its the most common vector does not mean its the only one.
I would really hate if I or someone I care about who was smart enough to know something about who their sleeping with and use protection ended up contracting HIV some other way and could not get treatment. Especially if the treatment is never developed because some fools like you assumed that unprotected sex was the only way to get it and it will never mutate to become more infectious through other vectors.
Repeal the 17th Amendment TODAY! Also Please Read http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/right-to-read.html
Make them Goatse resistant? Slashdot could use some of that
That's pretty much what all AIDS drugs have attempted to do, thus far. Making fake cells seems problematic, since you would have to replace the patient's own cells with them until all the virus has been "cleaned up." But interrupting the life cycle of the virus is the main goal of therapy. Viruses typically use enzymes and proteins to move in and out of human cells. Influenza, for example, uses hemagglutinin to break its way into the cell, then later uses neuraminidase to break back out when it's ready to spread further. If you can somehow block the action of either of these proteins, you have managed to disrupt the viral life cycle. If it can't spread, it should eventually die off. Thus, if a doctor gives you medicine to fight a bad flu, he's probably giving you what is called a "neuraminidase inhibitor." Scientists have tried to create many HIV drugs along similar lines. The problem, as always, is that the HIV virus mutates so rapidly that you can't assume that what worked an hour ago will still work now (literally).
Breakfast served all day!
No, we run out of zinc in 2011 and the end of the world comes in 2012.
Undetectable Steganography? Yep, there's an app fo
is unfortunately far too common in many parts of Africa. In western society, as you say, it's rare - but totally rife in other parts. I've read statistics that the HIV infection rate in some areas is over 20%.
Education, health care, etc may be the long-term answer... No one apparently is sure of a short-term preventative measure, though.
February 9th, 2009 8:55pm: Slashdot becomes self-aware.
A fix should be available for them, as well as everyone else infected.
The problem is when you're dealing with for profit pharmaceutical companies, a "fix" is not in their best interest. Not many research dollars are going to be assigned to THAT. Keeping you alive and dependent on their overpriced medications is far more profitable. Don't hope for a "fix" for anything. Expect lifelong "treatments" instead.
They're just bad as tobacco companies for their nicotine addiction. Granted they need to find the cure and vaccine for it but the way it is now it's not gonna happen anytime soon. HIV is very real and people need to do everything they can to protect themselves. Seems lately people are being naive thinking it'll never happen to them and still continue to have unprotected sex with unknown partners. Rape and other situations are a separate issue altogether. I'm talking about deliberate acts of being stupid by not using protection. To me that's not an excuse. Protection isn't 100% effective but at least they should make an effort to prevent the spread of HIV.
If people are stupid enough to have unprotected sex with an unknown partner then it's their problem. Also, this re-enforces the nature of being faithful in a relationship so stop screwing around people!!
No it doesn't, not in the slightest.
It reinforces the nature of using a condom while screwing around, nothing more.
PS: Every partner might as well be treated like an "unknown" partner. Unless you have 7x24 video surveillance of their every move, you could quite easily be infected with HIV. Trust doesn't stop viruses, and thousands of cases demonstrate my point.
In summary, HIV has nothing to do with screwing around, and nothing to do with "unknown" partners. It has everything to do with unprotected sex, and unprotected sex only. The only way to 100% guarantee you'll never catch HIV is to never ever have penetrative sex. Period. With anyone, no matter how much you trust them. You can be 99.9999% sure if you use a condom. Anything else, you're taking your life into your own hands.
Endless arguments over trivial contradictions in books written by ignorant savages to explain thunder in the dark.
I know this is offtopic to the article, but ontopic to the parent post.
Don't apologize... it's the way discussions are supposed to work. Too bad that more mods don't realize it.
This post is, sadly, only tangentally ontopic since I'm replying to something that wasn't the main point of your poost. Alas.
What could possibly go wrong?
As opposed to a good 'con' who would try to stick it in their SUV and burn it!
The statement was sarcasm aimed at a combination of the 'zinc shortgage' story earlier today and the mostly 'lib' agenda of conserving resources.
Do not meddle in the affairs of sysadmins, for they are subtle, and quick to anger.
I guess when Isaac Asimov was infected with HIV from a contaminated blood transfusion he deserved to get sick and die!
If you mod me Overrated, you are admitting that you have no penis.
So...this is supposed to be the Mayan Y2k? I hope they still find some PALENQUOBOL programmers..
Ezekiel 23:20
CCR5 is a receptor for a class of signaling molecules used to coordinate action between T cells, other white blood cells, and other cells (like endothelial cells) that sense infection.
You can buy mice that have had CCR5 nuked entirely. They're slightly more susceptible to fungal and viral infections (HIV is an exception because it actually uses CCR5 to get into the cell), and slightly more resistant to damage caused by immune system malfunction (like asthma).
The reason they're not totally immune-disabled is that the CCRs are highly redundant. Most of the CCR5 signals will also be picked up by CCR1, CCR3, etc. Which is not to say this treatment is guaranteed to work (TGN1412 worked great in monkeys, and then killed people), and hacking the CCR5 gene in every cell in the body is not really feasible, but it's still interesting.
Would you kindly get off your high horse, cheating is not a pre-requisite for contracting HIV. The majority of HIV is contracted from a partner that they are having a relationship with. The chances of contracting HIV from having unprotected sex with a person is lower than most STD gonorrhoea for example, you are far more likely to contract HIV from having unprotected sex more often with a steady partner who you (and they) didn't know they were infected than you are with from a one night stand with a partner who was infected. This is backed up by the fact that the majority of HIV infections happen in third world countries via normal relationships, this is due to 1) lack of sex education, 2) lack or unafordability of STD testing 3) religious interference such as abstinence programs (redundant, I know its covered under lack of education). Point in short, you are less likely to get HIV and AIDS from cheating than you are by being uninformed.
Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
Before, actually, in keeping with Blizzard's habit of missing the release date.
It's only due to the crazy physics involved with the world ending that somehow the game ends up finished anyway.
One of the first ontopic posts and the mods give it a -1 Offtopic??
For years I've heard of HIV research focusing on either slowing the spread of HIV or focusing on killing the virus.
This solution instead makes it so the virus will have no effect. I would imagine that a HIV infected victim that has not been vacinated should even be able to receive immunized T-cell injections or even pill supplements.
The approach to this problem just reminds me of the kid that suggested letting the air out of the tires of the bus stuck in the tunnel. Of course it's obviously much more technical to modify T-cells in laboratories, but the beauty of the approach is equally elegant
Just because the Mayans calendar ended then means what exactly? They didn't even invent, let alone UTILIZE the wheel...
Not only that but they were able to predict "the end of the world" and yet utterly failed to foresee the end of their own civilization?
This isn't actually true. The Mayan long count actually continues after 2012. The Mayans actually thought the world wouldn't end until sometime around 3000. The cause for the misinterpretation is in the way the Mayans wrote the date. There's a whole other digit that usually gets left out, because they saw no need to write the entire long count for things thousands of years in the future, but on a handful of totems you can actually see the entire long count for the end of the world date, and it's not until the 3000s, so we're good for a while.
No, we run out of zinc in 2011 and the end of the world comes in 2012.
We could just move the end of the world forward by one year to solve the problem.
May contain traces of nut.
Made from the freshest electrons.
I guess when Isaac Asimov was infected with HIV from a contaminated blood transfusion he deserved to get sick and die!
Absolutely, according to the original poster he shouldn't have had a transfusion without a condom, so it was completely his fault. (details are left as an exercise to the reader).
May contain traces of nut.
Made from the freshest electrons.
I prefer late, but good, over rushed and mediocre.
*glares at EA*
That, and the fact that Blizzard finally announced Diablo III is good news to me.
Anyways.. back on topic.. yay T-Cells!
It's never just a game when you're winning. - George Carlin
But we still won't see Duke Nukem Forever... *weep*
Finally had enough. Come see us over at https://soylentnews.org/
Zinc fingers are motifs (i.e. a combination of secondary structural elements with unique topolgy) - not a type of protein! But then again, you guys are computer scientists or engineers or w/e you call yourselves...so who cares as long as it sounds smart...eh?
Mod +1 relieved
Phew
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It means we get to wear funny hats, blow noise makers, say "I luv you man" and get rip roaring drunk. The next day we get to wake up with a punitive hang-over and praying the new girlfreind isn't a tranny!
Apocalypse Cancelled, Sorry, No Ticket Refunds
As it happens errors in the CCR5 receptor occur naturally and with a significant frequency, mainly in European populations. This 'delta32' mutation results in a defective receptor, but the people with it are healthy. There is also a drugs on the market, maraviroc, that specifically inhibits CCR5. People with the CCR5-Delta32 mutation are 'long term non progressors', they carry the virus but don't develop AIDS, probably because the virus is incapable of destroying their immune system. HIV is actually found in variants that use the CCR5 or CXCR4 receptors as co-receptors to enter cells. Apparently X4-tropic viruses, while deadly, have a limited effect on people with uncompromised immune systems. Most infections are with R5, and X4 strains evolve in the later stages of disease. I don't think anybody as yet understands why, but this is a very reproducible occurrence.
[...] the entire long count for the end of the world date, and it's not until the 3000s, so we're good for a while.
And then the Psychlos arrive...
So say we all
... tin whiskers are the way to go.
nature usually doesn't keep things around that we don't have a need for!!!
http://www.livescience.com/animals/top10_vestigial_organs.html I wouldn't be so sure about that.
And yet, the wheel would have been largely useless to them, as they had no sizable draft animal and the terrain was largely unsuitable to wheeled vehicles.
Just sayin... the lack of the wheel had little to do with their potential for engineering.
"Trolls they were, but filled with the evil will of their master: a fell race..." -- J.R.R. Tolkien on Olog-hai
So does that mean there should be a +1 meta?
Slashdot still doesnâ(TM)t support Unicode after it was added to the HTML standard in 1997.
http://skeptoid.com/episodes/4093
(1.21 gigawatts) / (88 miles per hour) = 30 757 874 newtons
because it now has an introduced error into the CCR5 gene.'
Hell, even iamlegend (like a story was previously tagged) would do as well.
Disclaimer: I am not god.
We may not be created equal
But we can be treated equal.
Actually, they did predict the coming of the bearded white skinned gods from the east and that this would signal the end of their civilization. They predicted the exact date, down to the day that the conquistadors arrived.
Yes - this is good news - but can they cure my cold?
"i lost my dignity on a slippery wiener"
Actually, they did predict the coming of the bearded white skinned gods from the east and that this would signal the end of their civilization. They predicted the exact date, down to the day that the conquistadors arrived.
Where can I find this documented? Please no links to crackpot sites.
Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
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You try to build a wheeled cart (using period available materials and tech) that is more efficient moving goods through rainforests and mountains than a few serfs carrying it on their backs.
Dude, Yucatán is not a place where you can build a roman-style road.
No sig for the moment.
"How does that even make sense as a reason for disease to spread"
The argument is that abstinence programs teach "don't do it" instead of "here's how to do it safely". People who break from abstinence programs are less likely to be prepared - less likely to have condoms with them.
The revolution will not be televised... but it will have a page on Wikipedia