Slashdot Mirror
Researchers Zero In On Protein That Destroys HIV
Julie188 writes with this excerpt from a Loyola University news release:
"Using a $225,000 microscope, researchers have identified the key components of a protein called TRIM5a that destroys HIV in rhesus monkeys. The finding could lead to new TRIM5a-based treatments that would knock out HIV in humans, said senior researcher Edward M. Campbell, PhD, of Loyola University Health System."
This is exciting but it looks like it has a ways to go before it is a viable treatment for humans.
"Maybe this world is another planet's hell"
Aldous Huxley
The 400x part is usually meaningless. It's just 40x objective and a 10x eye piece. What actually matters is the resolution.
Resolution can be improved by things like deconvolution as used in TFS, but that's still relatively low. You can easily start flirting with 7 digit figures when you use confocal microscopy and variations of laser excitation. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confocal_microscopy
And yet, no insurer offers contraceptive-failure insurance (presumably for those who have been surgically sterilized: 1/600-1/2000 failure rate for men, and 1/300 for women), nor is a contract to abort in the event of contraceptive failure legally enforceable.
Further, a man can be assessed child support for a child provably not his, and jailed if he does not pay. (Google "legal father" sometime, and the lack of proper service of process to allow disputing paternity within statutory limits). I suppose this is unconstitutional, but mounting a constitutional challenge is likely beyond the financial means of many caught in this trap.
Finally, there is the case of a minor in Florida, seduced by an adult woman, who subsequently became pregnant. Florida law forbids a minor being ordered to pay child support to an adult, but as soon as he turned 18, he was hit with a a $50,000 arrears tab, and ordered to pay or go to jail.
Abstinence, and the general avoiding of women of unknown character, is the only defense a man has if he does not want to father a child or be required to financially support one.
In Liberty, Rene
Even if you can kill the HIV virus, you still wouldn't have a cure.
HIV is a retrovirus. It becomes part of the infected cell's genome. Any agent that kills the virus can suppress symptoms/disease but not cure people who are already infected.
P.S. Please take off your tin-foil hat. The glare is quite annoying.
Why be scared of only one life-threatening illness? Hepatitis still kills you. Syphilis will still kill you, if you don't get the antibiotics. Chlamydia and gonorrhea suck, even if they don't kill you. HPV might kill you, if you're female.
To make things more interesting, consider that people didn't start banging everything in sight once penicillin gave us the ability to cure syphilis.
Your hypothesis would only be true if people had tunnel-vision and were under the impression that HIV is the only high-risk disease that is transmitted sexually. I postulate that those who are scared of the life-threatening consequences of HIV will continue to be scared of the life-threatening consequences from other infections. Those who might have more sex once they knew they are now safe from HIV would probably have the same amount of sex in the absence of any cure for HIV.
The only caveat may be the gay male community. They are somewhat more HIV conscious than your average hetero folks. But most straight folks I know are terrified of all STDs, even the ones that can be cured.
:(){
You weren't around in the early '80s, before AIDS became well known, were you? Herpes was the scourge of the sexual revolution.
Then AIDS came along.
That's why I said, Herpes was the original stab, but AIDS twisted it to kill.
General Relativity: Space-time tells matter where to go; Matter tells space-time what shape to be.
In other words, caring for someone, no matter how briefly, has its consequences. Nothing new there.
No, the specific instances are a woman gets pregnant, has a child, and seeks welfare. She names a man who has never met the child or supported the woman or ever had sex with her as the father, as required by many states to get welfare, so the state can go after the father for child support to reimburse the welfare provided. She provides an address for this man. A letter is sent there giving him a limited time to disprove paternity. Problem is, it's not his address. The usual service of process is not followed, and he is clueless as to the claim until the statute of limitations expires to contest it. He finds out when his wages start to be garnished by the state. Then, it is too late.
Google "paternity fraid".
In one instance, a man was ordered to pay child support for a child that didn't even exist.
In Liberty, Rene