AIDS Vaccine Breakthrough

Doc Ruby writes "Scientists at Johns Hopkins University in MD, USA announced they've disrupted the means by which HIV stops the immune system from attacking it. From the article: 'Scientists say they have found a way to disarm the AIDS virus in research that could lead to a vaccine. Researchers have discovered that if they eliminate a cholesterol membrane surrounding the virus, HIV cannot disrupt communication among disease-fighting cells and the immune system returns to normal. [...] "By stealing cholesterol from the envelope of the virus, we can neutralize the subversion," said Graham. "We've broken the code; we can shut down the type of interference that HIV is having on the immune system."'"

Comments

Re:Only one to protect yourself

[Sasayaki]

Abstinence is the worst of all the safe-sex choices.

The best way to describe it is, "It is 100% effective, when used correctly. When not used correctly it is 0% effective, and among females and males between 14-25 it has a very high failure rate."

How many non-Slashdot users do you know that are 25 years old and never had sex?

Re:Only one to protect yourself

[tverbeek]

Aye, and if my grandmother had wheels, she'd be a wagon.

The problem with this advice – and pretty much every other "just say no" solution to a social or medical problem – is that it ignores human nature... and the empirically documented fact that it simply doesn't work. Some people inevitably will have unprotected sex, will share needles, and will do everything else that they're told not to do. A "solution" that ignores this fact is one that is not 100% effective.

Re:Only one to protect yourself

[Daetrin]

That's... 100% backwards. If i had sex with a hundred women (yeah, i'm on slashdot, i wish) got AIDS and died, but that sex resulted in a half dozen kids then natural selection would favor me a hell of a lot more than someone who practiced complete abstinence.

Natural selection only "cares" (yes, i'm anthropomorphizing it, get over it) if you have kids and how many. It doesn't give a damn if you survive the process or not.