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Gene Therapy Approach 'Completely' Protects Mice From HIV Infection
Pierre Bezukhov writes "Scientists from the California Institute of Technology have come up with a gene therapy approach that has proven effective in protecting mice (with humanized immune systems) against HIV infections. They used a genetically altered virus to infect muscles cells and deliver DNA codes of potent antibodies isolated from the blood of human HIV victims (abstract). The muscle cells then began to manufacture the antibodies in quantities that proved 'completely protective' against HIV infection. By contrast, traditional vaccines have not worked against HIV, as scientists have failed to find a molecule that induces the immune system to produce enough potent antibodies. The difficulties stem from the fact that HIV disguises some of its external structures from the antibodies."
How do you conduct a proper trial for HIV? "Here, this is either a drug that will work, won't work, or a placebo which works a surprising amount of time. At best you have a 50/50 shot of getting HIV" Who is going to participate in that trial?
Slashdot's rate-of-post filter: Preventing you from posting too many great ideas at once.
I wanna see some peer-review output. I hope I'm wrong, but this sounds too good to be true, like cold fusion or the like.
Maybe, though, I'm just getting skeptical in my old age...
But still, I hope I'm wrong.
You have the right to remain silent. If you don't, anything you say will be misquoted and used against you.
You have a problem against this why?
And this of course explains why lesbians such as myself have such low STD rates, oftentimes lower even than straight women. Because God hates queers.
Newsflash, genius: MEN are promiscuous and dumb when it comes to taking risks, so MEN have higher STD rates, and when there's TWO men, it all goes out the window. This isn't a gay thing so much as a male thing.
Was to inject concentrated cash puree directly into the body.
Reminds me of this short story I read the other day:
http://eidolon.net/?story=The%20Moral%20Virologist
"When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
Are you from 1982?
Most people who get AIDS today are young heterosexual females. They are not "fucking random strangers in the ass without protection."
AIDS is a disease that any sexually active person can get, even if they use protection. I don't sleep around a lot, but I have sex and unprotected oral sex. Why do you think my partners and I deserve to die? Because we are violating your personal moral code? Or because you are driven by resentment of your more sexually successful peers?
"as scientists have failed to find a molecule that induces the immune system to produce enough potent antibodies"
scientists have failed to find proof that AIDS is actually caused by HIV
Yeah? How about those who caught it from a blood transfusion? Or the people who made the mistake of sharing a syringe? Or those who were infected during plain, ol' heterosexual sex?
Sure, doing IV drugs is stupid, but it doesn't rise to a level deserving a death sentence.
Besides, if being stupid was a punishable by death, you wouldn't have been here to write what you did.
Ignorant moron.
You have the right to remain silent. If you don't, anything you say will be misquoted and used against you.
The article expresses a concern that once the gene therapy is started it can't be turned off if the person has an allergic reaction to the antibodies. Maybe somebody more informed can explain why:
1) You couldn't test for an allergic reaction in advance of the gene therapy.
2) You couldn't just do more gene therapy to turn off your original gene therapy.
Lets face it, there once was a big scare about aids and then it dropped off to the point that a lot of people believe the weirdest things and fuck around and with no protection.
It isn't just AIDS, there are a lot of STD's and some of them are way easier to catch then AIDS and have a devestating impact on women especially as it makes them infertile.
It is good news that a vaccine MIGHT someday work on humans but in the meantime, it doesn't hurt to be a bit more careful. Just because one day they might make perfect safe cars, you don't skip putting on your helmet when you go drive a motor cycle in heavy traffic and icing conditions right? No. Unlike you... I am not a fool. (Yes, I am aware of the irony, that is the point really)
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
Or it could have something to do with the methodology of intercourse for lesbians. Not so much anal tearing going on there, for instance.
HBI's Law: Frequency of calling others Nazis is directly correlated with the likelihood of the accuser being Communist.
You are thinking about proving it works. This won't be tested at first. What will be tested at first on humans whether the innoculation itself doesn't kill you. After that it is a matter of simple statistics. As long as the shot doesn't kill you, the rest don't matter. Simple record the patients success at not getting HIV versus non-innoculated patients.
They are NOT going to shoot up humans with AIDS just for a test. Well. Not officially anyway. This is the medical industry after all. Nazi's would gag.
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
This experiment will probably not produce an actual human drug, as it suffers from the same drawback as most previous gene-therapy studies: the Adenovirus transduction system will kill a significant number of patients. However, the results do seem to indicate that a monoclonal antibody has protective effects. The gene therapy vaccine may not work, but you could inject purified antibody into someone who had a known exposure, or is going to be in a high-risk situation, and prevent infection. Unfortunately, these types of therapies will never be able to cure an established infection, as HIV integrates its genome into host T-cells.
Jeez - and here I thought Slashdot to be a haven from this sort of nonsense. Seriously, you and your fellow 'Anonymous Coward's should have your human license revoked.
Zuki: Technical Tomfoolery
I love how you decided to keep this comment anonymous. 'It's as if' you are scared to actually back up your opinion. Seriously, in the 'playground' version of being a fag, you are the biggest one I've seen.
Gravity - 'It's as if nature doesn't think' humans should fly, but we do (planes).
Fun fact - nature isn't CONSCIOUS. It doesn't really give a crap what you think or do. Nature didn't wake up one day and think 'hey, I think I hate queers today!'. Unless you're religious, then of course why I even waste my breath is beyond me.
Zuki: Technical Tomfoolery
And there are already much better ways to prevent getting infected with HIV.
There's only one sure-fire way to be sure you won't contract HIV / AIDS sexually: Be spectacular in bed.
If you are a a Gold Medal-winning bedroom gymnast, your partner will never need to sleep around for satisfaction! Everyone's a winner.
Finally had enough. Come see us over at https://soylentnews.org/
I believe you meant "whinging".
[Citation needed]
Moreover, if most is raw numbers than divide by about 20 to get equivalent per capita numbers.
Maybe this is a silly, minor thing, but it bothers me these sort of blurbs always just talk about faceless "scientists." Does it really take that much work to find out who the principal researchers were? Maybe more people would be inspired to get into science if it actually seemed to come with some measure of face rather than anonymity in a lab coat.
... then of course why I even waste my breath is beyond me.
I'm guessing that the Slashdot post isn't a big breath-user, but your fingers probably need the exercise, anyway.
In any case, your post made me smile, so I think it was worthwhile.
Or it could be that God loves lesbians...
We show geeks how to get their dream girl at EyesOfOdessa.com
I read that too, I also wrote one.
I'm a minority race. Save your vitriol for white people.
Though a week plus old, still apt.
http://engineering.tamu.edu/news/2011/11/21/research-finds-hiv-killing-compound/
Here's to hoping this kind of research, and discovery, leads to some truely ground-breaking implementations.
Black women have higher std rates than straight men.
I believe you don't realize that there's two very similar words in use in American vs. British English.
http://www3.telus.net/eddyelmer/Tools/BritDict.htm
Dear moron,
Have you considered that semen injected into the vagina, and especially the anus is a good disease vector, and saliva rubbed around the vulva, or vaginal juices in the mouth is a rather poor disease vector?
Sincerely,
The non man-hating population of the world.
Or the people who made the mistake of sharing a syringe?
That doesn't belong up there with the other two.
You mean to tell me there are adult people today, in first-world nations, who don't understand that sharing a syringe means exposure to every single pathogen and blood-borne disease the other user(s) have? They cannot put two and two together and see that the needle goes through the skin and into a blood vessel?
I am so fucking tired of this movement that really got started during the 70s. The movement is all about taking adult people who make stupid, risky decisions and then calling them victims when they suffer in any way. You really wouldn't want the kind of society this is creating. Some adult people do stupid things. The only concern should be making sure that non-participants who didn't do $stupid_thing don't suffer, that the consequences are confined to the willful participants.
Stop putting them on pedestals and feeling sorry for them. Seriously. The only way to protect everybody from everything is to destroy all freedoms. Even that probably won't work (prisoners have little/no freedom and they still manage to smuggle drugs, weapons, and cellphones into prisons). Grow a pair and drop this bullshit before it's too late.
Billions and Billions of dollars spent looking for a cure or vaccine for AIDS so that people can go around fucking random strangers in the ass without protection and without having to worry.
Babies who get HIV from breast milk are appalled at you sir, appalled. Infants. Appalled.
AIDS is a disease that any sexually active person can get, even if they use protection. I don't sleep around a lot, but I have sex and unprotected oral sex. Why do you think my partners and I deserve to die?
Because you're a bunch of queers.
Damn, you seem to be a smart mother fucker.
I'm curious though. In your example, you kill the gene therapy with antibiotics, like a permanent off switch.
Would it be possible to create gene therapy that is only active in the presence of some external chemical? Forgive my bad example, but could you make it so the gene therapy only activates in the presence of, say, aspirin? That way, after the gene therapy nothing happens, but once you begin an aspirin regimen it would activate, and if there was some allergic reaction you could just stop taking aspirin. Aspirin may be a bad choice for a variety of reasons, but any chemical not normally present in the human body should work, as long as it gets into all the cells...right?
:(){
Or: Always thoroughly clean the double-ended dildo after usage.
Or: never swap sides on the double-ended dildo...
Who DOESN'T like lesbians? On film, anyways...
Understanding the scope of the problem is the first step on the path to true panic.
I too think this should be ranked higher.
"Man is nothing without the works of man" -- Helvetius
It's not about whether you deserve to die or not. It's about whether billions of dollars should be spent looking for a cure for a disease who's cause is well known and easily prevented. Don't go sticking things where the don't belong. That includes someone's ass or your neighbor's pussy. It's too bad that you preferred sexual activity of choice carries such a high rick of infection. But frankly, it's not my problem any more than some wino drinking himself to death is my problem.
You bitch and moan about moral codes, but ignore that fact that the rules embodied in those codes make a hell of a lot of sense.
Then you crow about your sexual success...so fucking a bunch of skanks and behaving like a dog is success? No Thanks...although Charlie Sheen would be proud of you no doubt.
Have you read the U.S. Constitution code? People usually call it a document, just like DNA codes are usually called genes and software codes [sic] are usually called programs.
It would be sweet if AIDS were no longer a threat.
They day they announce the cure.....I'm guessing if you can't get laid that day...you're never gonna get laid.
Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
Fun fact - nature isn't CONSCIOUS.
Speculatively, for us to contemplate whether Nature is conscious is a bit like one of your cells in your body wondering (in whatever form, probably not language) if it's part of something conscious. It is, but the nature of that consciousness is probably not something a single cell could understand. For that cell, it effectively doesn't exist even though the rest of us can plainly see you walking and talking. That cell might as well focus on its day-to-day metabolic activity and forget the question that it probably couldn't formulate and couldn't answer, but that does not make the question invalid. For the cell, the answer is "yes, you are". For us, we don't know.
Those who actually understand scientific skepticism would have to say "we don't know/not enough data to draw a conclusion". They'd then move on to put their attention elsewhere into things that can be falsified.
Those who are smarmy and like to hear themselves talk especially when it's to tell someone else "you're wrong" would tend to say "it definitely isn't and I have no burden of proof" even though that is in fact a claim. Face it, you misunderstand positivism.
Honestly, you're an arrogant little shit who chose a ranting foaming-at-the-mouth "god hates fags" type of AC to respond to because you want to take an easy cheap shot at a target no one will sympathize with. Same reason you slam religious people, it's trendy to hate on them even though many of them keep their personal beliefs quite separate from their scientific studies and business careers. I know people like you. You're very brave behind a keyboard when you expect no real opposition. You're a complete pussy every other time, when you stand a real risk of failure/rejection/being wrong. Enjoy your few minutes of pleasure, I suppose.
This is *great* news for gay mice. Ever try to put on one of those tiny little condoms without tearing it with your claws?
Are you literally suggesting that a vagina is an inappropriate place to put a penis? I'm guessing your mommy never gave you "the talk".
That is factually wrong.
Gay and bisexual men remain the population most heavily affected by HIV in the United States. CDC estimates MSM represent approximately 2% of the US population, but accounted for more than 50% of all new HIV infections annually from 2006 to 2009 –56% in 2006 (27,000), 58% in 2007 (32,300), 56% in 2008 (26,900) and 61% (29,300) in 2009.
Source
gay men?
who prays for Satan? Who in 18 centuries has had the humanity to pray for the 1 sinner that needed it most? ~Mark Twain
Common argument for many people who want to do stupid things without consequences...their actions cause pain and suffering to innocent people so we are obligated to make their actions consequence free.
"I have 15 kids and can't feed them...I should get more money from the government...don't you want them to be fed?"
"I'm a addict and don't want to change. So a mug people and kill to get money for my next fix...shouldn't you provide the drugs to me for free so I don't do that?"
"I was told to evacuate because a hurricane was coming, but I didn't. Now I'm sitting on a roof with me kids waiting for others to risk their lives to save me."
"I slept with some scumbag guy, who I know sleeps around, and got AIDS. Then, I breast fed the baby he gave me and he got AIDS. You really should make it so people can sleep around without getting AIDS."
Now I can have unprotected sex with mice and not worry about getting AIDS
... in the United States.
That's where you go wrong: compared to southern Africa, where about 1 out of every 5 adults currently infected, the 50,000 per year in the US is almost negligible. And in that population, about 60% of all adults with HIV are women and girls.
source.
I am officially gone from
1) Most people getting infected with AIDS aren't in the United States. They are in Africa and other underdeveloped regions.
2) AIDS prevalence is not the same as the infection rate. The total AIDS prevalence is high among gay men for historical reasons. But young heterosexual women are now the most at risk demographic.
You pay your taxes and then it is no longer 'your money', asshole.
Your post is anonymous as well...
See my journal for slashdot ID's by year. Mine created in 2005. http://slashdot.org/journal/289875/slashdot-ids-by-year
Posting anonymously does not imply fear.
The AC you replied to is an idiot, but that's unrelated.
Addiction drives your behavior in irrational ways.
Many areas of my country respond to this by making it illegal to buy needles without a prescription, forcing those who are addicted to intravenous drugs to re-use needles... enforcing a slow death penalty on those who use these drugs, just because we don't like them.
My brother is diabetic and had the cops called on him during a cross country trip because he had the gall to want clean needles for his insulin. He had to find a doctor and get a prescription away from home/city/state in order use his insulin which he needed to stay alive.
Needles should be available readily for anyone who thinks they need them.
UNAIDS 2011 World AIDS Day Fact Sheet
The proportion of women living with HIV has remained stable at 50% globally, women are more affected in sub-Saharan Africa (59% of all people living with HIV).
Also, more than 10% of those infected with AIDS in 2010 were children who got the disease from their mother. Are you going to blame those children for their loose morals and homosexual adventures?
The AIDS rate in gay men here is 20%. Maybe the fastest growing segment is hetero females, but it's not even remotely close to 20%.
Yeah, those babies infected with HIV should have taken more personal responsibility for their actions. Those babies are just a bunch of big babies who want to be freed from the consequences of their rampant breast-feeding.
Men who don't like the fact they can't join in? Or do we work on the pretext that every lesbian is actually secretly bi and up for a little 3-way action?
1. Lumping Africa and America together is ludicrously disingenuous. The socioeconomic problems driving the AIDS epidemic in Africa are completely different from those in North America. In developed countries, the MSM demographic is still by far the most at-risk group for HIV infection, and where most of the education effort to prevent the spread needs to be focused.
2. Reading comprehension?
CDC estimates MSM represent approximately 2% of the US population, but accounted for more than 50% of all new HIV infections annually from 2006 to 2009 –56% in 2006 (27,000), 58% in 2007 (32,300), 56% in 2008 (26,900) and 61% (29,300) in 2009.
There's only one sure-fire way to be sure you won't contract HIV / AIDS sexually: Be spectacular in bed.
If you are a a Gold Medal-winning bedroom gymnast, your partner will never need to sleep around for satisfaction! Everyone's a winner.
And don't forget to practice! practice! practice! Have sex with anybody and everybody, so that you can develop your skills to the fullest. Then, once you are having port-star quality sex with actual porn stars, they will love you enough to never have sex with anybody else!
Do you try to be this fucking stupid or does it come naturally?
I'll try it slower...primary actor behaves irresponsibly and harms an innocent. Primary actor then argues that he should be "helped" so that he does not harm an innocent.
It's nothing short of black mail actually.
We bet on the wrong stocks and lost a lot of money, the government should bail me out.
I stole a lot of money and people want to kill me, the police should stop them!
I got a lot of money by exploiting other people and someone robbed me, someone should go out and find them.
The government gave me some rights when I bribed them, and now people are infringing on them - they should all be put in jail.
I want to preach my religion to other people and they keep beating me up. People should be forced to listen to me.
Foreigners want to move into my country - we should just shoot them at the border.
I have a hard time believing that someone who depends on medication to stay alive would not take all precautions to ensure they have the drugs and whatever delivery methods are required.
In short, I'm calling you a fucking liar or your brother a stupid mother fucker for finding himself in that situation in the first place.
You choose.
Interesting, has an ending that really makes you think...
"When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
After clicking on your name, I take it back. Carry on!
See my journal for slashdot ID's by year. Mine created in 2005. http://slashdot.org/journal/289875/slashdot-ids-by-year
"Well, the premise is quite simple - um, take something designed by nature and reprogram it to make it work for the body rather than against it."
How'd that work out for the Fresh Prince?
Interesting, has an ending that really makes you think...
Well, then I consider it to be a success - science-fiction is supposed to be about the effect of fictional science, not so much about the workings of it. Hope you posted a review ;-)
I'm a minority race. Save your vitriol for white people.
You've basically proved God exists. I mean, of course it's set in some disgusting desert in the Middle East, but the Bible makes pure sense. The world is 4000 years old. Some re-written and re-written book altered by pedophile priests is what I base my faith on.
I was talking about the global AIDS pandemic when I said:
"Most people [ie not just Americans] who get AIDS today are young heterosexual females"
So it doesn't matter what CDC estimates for HIV in the US because that is only one place on the globe. For the full information read the UNAIDS 2011 World AIDS Day Fact Sheet
The proportion of women living with HIV has remained stable at 50% globally, women are more affected in sub-Saharan Africa (59% of all people living with HIV).
Also, more than 10% of those infected with AIDS in 2010 were children who got the disease from their mother. Are you going to blame those children for their loose morals and homosexual adventures?
As a Christian I believe it's God's plan to punish these children for being spawn of homosexuals.
7th grade tripe.
Take your nonsense to DU.
Dear rape victim who got AIDS from your rapist. It's your fault. Love, Anonymous Coward.
That was always one the ideas that I would chuckle to myself about. Heterosexual men should want as few homosexual women, and as many homosexual men in the world as possible. We should want lots and lots of bisexual women, but very few homosexual women.
Odds are pretty good there's only one of them in this thread.
I explicitly release the above into the public domain.
Danny Bonaduce (Yeah, the kid from the partridge family) had a quote statement about that. When his therapist posed him with the question "If your wife was a perfect 10, and was eager to perform any sexual act you wanted, what would it take to get you to cheat on her?"
His response: "A 6 I hadn't slept with yet."
Great, now I'm picturing Pinky and The Brain...
The hot women you see in porn videos are payed whores, not actual lesbians. The IRL one tend to be much less attractive...
And you've never lost a piece of luggage or had one stolen?
You're a stupid, smug, waste of oxygen. It'd be interesting to see you come down with a nice case of diabetes and have your supplies lost at the airport.
It's been a few days but tbh I feel I should reply to you - you'll probably never see it, unfortunately.
Honestly, you're an arrogant little shit who chose a ranting foaming-at-the-mouth "god hates fags" type of AC to respond to because you want to take an easy cheap shot at a target no one will sympathize with. Same reason you slam religious people, it's trendy to hate on them even though many of them keep their personal beliefs quite separate from their scientific studies and business careers. I know people like you. You're very brave behind a keyboard when you expect no real opposition. You're a complete pussy every other time, when you stand a real risk of failure/rejection/being wrong. Enjoy your few minutes of pleasure, I suppose.
Actually, I chose the AC to reply to because he was the first comment on the submission that came up on screen, and as both a physicist and a 'fag', his post was relevant. I have no problem with religious people who keep their opinions where they belong - themselves, rather than policy, schools, health etc. I do not believe in religion as defined by any current religion, but I am open to the idea of something more (I never once said I was atheist). Yes, a 'nature' could be aware, but not how we as a species define conscious, surely? As I said, I find it ridiculous to think that one day, 'nature' decided to create a disease purely to screw any particular people. That is extreme arrogance to believe that our importance is high enough to justify such a move.
But yes, blah blah, I can't prove beyond any uncertainty that the universe isn't conscious. Happy? But don't pretend it changes the argument. Prove to me it is. Then I'll concede it might have made up a disease. I think it's fair that at this stage, the burden of proof is on you rather than me.
You 'know people like me' do you? From one post of a mere 6 lines or so? Professor pop-psychologist has me all figured out. In real life, away from the keyboard, I'm a wuss, who sits at home every day. Oh, no, wait. I'm in fact a university graduate at a master level in Physics and studying for a PhD, a former Irish Intervarsity champion in karate, a board member of a LGBT rights charity in Belfast as well as a volunteer.
Few minutes of pleasure? Was it good for you, too?
Zuki: Technical Tomfoolery