Italian Team Cures Wiskott-Aldrich Syndrome With the Help of HIV

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Italian Team Cures Wiskott-Aldrich Syndrome With the Help of HIV

Posted by Soulskill on Friday July 12, 2013 @03:34AM from the bending-it-to-our-will dept.

New submitter tchernobog writes "An Italian team funded by Telethon and S. Raffaele of Milan, was able to cure six kids affected by lethal genetic diseases (in Italian, English video): the Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome and the metachromatic leukodystrophy. This is the culmination of a project lasted 15 years, and which cost more than 30M €; the researchers published some preliminary results last year in Nature, and are waiting for the results on more patients to submit another. The really interesting part is: they used a mix of advanced genetic techniques to achieve this result. Firstly, the DNA of a defective cell is corrected with a gene assembled in the lab. This procedure has been very dangerous for the past 20 years: that it can even be used is a good achievement alone. Secondly, the corrected DNA is propagated in the patient's body using a stripped-down version of HIV, of which less than 10% of its original genome remains. Might the feared HIV in reality prove to be salvation for some?"

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See, It is a good thing to be gay and do gay thing by Anonymous Coward · 2013-07-12 03:37 · Score: -1

like sodomy.
Italy by Anonymous Coward · 2013-07-12 03:37 · Score: 5, Funny

Soon after, the Italian government put them in prison on charges of manslaughter for not curing all genetic illnesses when clearly they could have saved lives. http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/22/us-italy-earthquake-court-idUSBRE89L0WM20121022
1. Re:Italy by Anonymous Coward · 2013-07-12 05:45 · Score: 0
  
  those guys werent convicted for not being able to predict an earthquake, they were convicted for not doing or doing badly their work, which should have been to give the alert when their data shown that the earthquake was hitting.
  in usa you have a tornado alert office, right? what would happen to those guys if a tornado hit a city and then you discover that half the tornado alert workers wasnt at their office during office time and the few left didnt use their correct contact to give the alert? the only warning these guys sent was a FAX, at the wrong office number too.
  they didnt bother phone, mail, nothing.
2. Re:Italy by Anonymous Coward · 2013-07-12 09:54 · Score: 0
  
  Gonna need a source on this. Smells like bullshit.
What about the fundementalists. by jellomizer · 2013-07-12 03:38 · Score: -1, Offtopic

I mean AIDs and HIV is suppose to be a curse from God for living a sinful lifestyle.
If we are starting to use this for good things, does that mean we have a Loving God who doesn't hate random groups of people. This could shake things up.

--
If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
1. Re:What about the fundementalists. by Anonymous Coward · 2013-07-12 03:46 · Score: 0
  
  Doubtful. Most likely we just stole fire from the gods again.
2. Re:What about the fundementalists. by Anonymous Coward · 2013-07-12 03:47 · Score: -1
  
  >If we are starting to use this for good things, does that mean we have a Loving God who doesn't hate random groups of people. This could shake things up.
  It doesn't, but I imagine that would be even more upsetting to the conservative christians than if they opened their eyes to the fact that gods are imaginary. They seem to need their twisted, hateful, imaginary god in their own twisted hate-fueled image.
3. Re:What about the fundementalists. by Anonymous Coward · 2013-07-12 03:49 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  HIV kills the sinful but cures the sick. There's no inconsistency.
4. Re:What about the fundementalists. by wonkey_monkey · 2013-07-12 03:50 · Score: 0
  
  does that mean we have a Loving God who doesn't hate random groups of people.
  Nah, he still hates the gays. But he loves kids, and is just being efficient about how he dishes out karma.
  
  --
  systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
5. Re:What about the fundementalists. by omnichad · 2013-07-12 03:54 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  I hate this misuse of fundamentalists. Call them extremists. Those people are not basing their ideology on the fundamentals. There is no Biblical foundation for believing this way.
6. Re:What about the fundementalists. by i+kan+reed · 2013-07-12 04:03 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  But they claim that they do. And in in the case of religion, if you take out the spurious claims, you're basically left with no beliefs at all.
7. Re:What about the fundementalists. by Capt.DrumkenBum · 2013-07-12 04:05 · Score: 1
  
  I just heard last week about HIV being used in cancer treatment as well. It seems like HIV is turning out to be a very useful virus. Interesting that something so destructive can be used for so much good. Perhaps a metaphor for something.
  
  --
  If I were God, wouldn't I protect my churches from acts of me?
8. Re: What about the fundementalists. by Anonymous Coward · 2013-07-12 04:09 · Score: 1
  
  Superstitions aside, this is an amazing Nobel grade development, if peer reviewed and confirmed of course.
9. Re:What about the fundementalists. by K.+S.+Kyosuke · 2013-07-12 04:12 · Score: 1
  
  HIV kills the sinful but cures the sick. There's no inconsistency.
  Why don't they call it the XOR virus instead?
  
  --
  Ezekiel 23:20
10. Re:What about the fundementalists. by Mitchell314 · 2013-07-12 04:27 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  We didn't steal fire, we just infringed on the gods' patents.
  
  --
  I read TFA and all I got was this lousy cookie
11. Re:What about the fundementalists. by Anonymous Coward · 2013-07-12 04:38 · Score: 0
  
  oh the irony!
  S. Raffaele of Milan is a semi catholic institution, and the founder Don Verzè was accused of the "disappear" of 3 billion euro from the foundation, and he was (he is dead) very friend with Silvio Berlusconi, they both love, maybe too much, party with very young girl (in an elegant way).
12. Re:What about the fundementalists. by wagnerrp · 2013-07-12 05:01 · Score: 2
  
  It's cool. HIV has been around long enough that that patents on it have all expired.
13. Re:What about the fundementalists. by LordLimecat · 2013-07-12 05:04 · Score: 1
  
  I say call them "strawmanists"; there arent really that many people who believe in the strawman GP has constructed.
14. Re:What about the fundementalists. by PRMan · 2013-07-12 05:19 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  And actually, to most Christians, the source of disease would typically be seen as random mutations, which God allowed after the fall. Is it random chance that it affects gays and drug abusers the most? Quite the coincidence, but hard to say. But ultimately, the ability to turn bad around for good is what God specializes in.
  
  --
  Peter predicted that you would "deliberately forget" creation 2000 years ago...
15. Re:What about the fundementalists. by interval1066 · 2013-07-12 05:40 · Score: 1
  
  ...which God allowed after the fall.
  That 'God' has a torture chamber and 'allows' things at all is a sure sign that your making this God thing up, bubbie. Oy!
  
  --
  Python: 'And then suddenly you have a language which says "we're all stuck with whatever the whiniest coder wants".'
16. Re:What about the fundementalists. by Anonymous Coward · 2013-07-12 05:41 · Score: 1
  
  There are enough of them around that, depending on where you live, you could bump into them regularly in public places. There is also enough variation between areas of the US and even within some towns and cities, so that some places you won't bump into any, or they are so far in the minority they won't be outgoing or vocal about things. But then there are places where they are more common and vocal. I've overheard plenty of such conversations on buses, planes and in parks, and have had people try to start conversations with me about such topics. I've at least been approached by them more often than I've passed by a Scientologist information table. I can't say much for absolute numbers, especially since most people of nearly any belief can function without bringing up religion every couple minutes in conversation, but definitely not zero or virtually non-existent.
17. Re:What about the fundementalists. by i+kan+reed · 2013-07-12 06:24 · Score: 1
  
  This is not in the subset of posts I've made that I consider insightful. This is a case where I posted something I knew to be flamebait because I thought it was funny, but it's not a very good argument. :-/
18. Re:What about the fundementalists. by bill_mcgonigle · 2013-07-12 06:25 · Score: 1
  
  you're basically left with no beliefs at all.
  
  "It's better to have ideas. You can change an idea. Changing a belief is trickier. Life should malleable and progressive; working from idea to idea permits that. Beliefs anchor you to certain points and limit growth; new ideas can't generate. Life becomes stagnant." - the Apostle Rufus
  
  --
  My God, it's Full of Source!
  OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
19. Re:What about the fundementalists. by lister+king+of+smeg · 2013-07-12 06:47 · Score: 1
  
  It's cool. HIV has been around long enough that that patents on it have all expired.
  yeah but its genome would still be covered by copyright
  
  --
  ---Saying gnome 3 is better than windows 8 not so much a compliment as it is damning with light praise.
20. Re:What about the fundementalists. by Anonymous Coward · 2013-07-12 07:03 · Score: -1
  
  Nah, he still hates the gays.
  God loves gays. He just doesn't like what they do. Of course, he doesn't like everything I do, either. Everyone alive is a sinner. The whole idea behind Christianity is love and forgiveness.
21. Re: What about the fundementalists. by smaddox · 2013-07-12 07:47 · Score: 1
  
  I'm not a geneticist, but I'm guessing any retrovirus could be used. HIV is likely used because its been the focus of the most research, and thus the genome is well known and cultures are readily available.
22. Re:What about the fundementalists. by St.Creed · 2013-07-12 08:10 · Score: 1
  
  Your post probably lies somewhere in the intersection of the set of insightful postings, funny postings and "oops, I accidentally" postings.
  
  --
  Therefore, by the (faulty) logic you're using, you're just a cow with a keyboard - osu-neko (2604)
23. Re:What about the fundementalists. by LordLimecat · 2013-07-12 08:57 · Score: 1
  
  I would call myself evangelical, and Ive only ever heard the position stated above coming from "the other side of the debate", or the WBC (whom noone takes seriously and can hardly be described as either fundamentalist or evangelical).
24. Re:What about the fundementalists. by simtel · 2013-07-12 10:08 · Score: 1
  
  That's why the scientists got rid of most of the genome. All that's left should be covered by Fair Use, right?
25. Re:What about the fundementalists. by Anonymous Coward · 2013-07-12 13:21 · Score: 0
  
  It is really easy to find people who thing the world is worse off because of slipping and declining morals over the last couple decades, although most of those probably refer to problems people bring on themselves and stuff more associated with urban life. Some times if you ask for clarification though(or it is given unprompted..) they will go on to add they don't mean just problems people bring on themselves, but that such a decline will invite disasters and dangers on larger scales. I've gotten more pamphlets than I can count that will try to blame "increasing number of earthquakes and hurricanes" on different groups, or generic wayward sinners. Referring to diseases seems a bit rarer. Maybe because in some places people are more likely to know someone that has been affected by random health issues than many of the other disasters referred to, but that is speculation on my part. Not to mention rumors and chain emails I've seen trying to connect maps of disasters to areas that fit some stereotype.
26. Re:What about the fundementalists. by Anonymous Coward · 2013-07-13 04:29 · Score: 0
  
  as random mutations, which God allowed after the fall.
  Perhaps that should be stated as "after the man was driven out from the paradise" for the benefit of those of us who haven't been in an American Sunday school. The word "fall" sounds like god had slipped over some nuts, hurt his head, thought some random thoughts and, as a result, launched some random mutations to the world outside of paradise.
27. Re:What about the fundementalists. by terjeber · 2013-07-13 08:30 · Score: 1
  
  Nah, what God specializes in is to create havoc on the world, Man desperately tries to remedy his mistakes. What Man excels at is inventing new infantile fairies in the sky that are cause of this, that or the other.
Holy crap by Anonymous Coward · 2013-07-12 03:38 · Score: 0

That's the most exciting/scary genetic breakthrough I ever heard of.
1. Re:Holy crap by ArcadeMan · 2013-07-12 03:42 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  I'll be excited when they announce catgirls.
  
  --
  Get free satoshi (Bitcoin) and Dogecoins
2. Re:Holy crap by Anonymous Coward · 2013-07-12 06:29 · Score: 0
  
  And then your cat is not the only one laying on your keyboard.
Re:See, It is a good thing to be gay and do gay th by Anonymous Coward · 2013-07-12 03:41 · Score: -1, Offtopic

And vagina.
Oblig. XKCD by Anonymous Coward · 2013-07-12 03:44 · Score: 5, Insightful

http://xkcd.com/938/
1. Re:Oblig. XKCD by SirGarlon · 2013-07-12 04:02 · Score: 1
  
  Here's another: http://xkcd.com/54/ OK, the science isn't relevant but the conclusion sure is.
  
  --
  [Sir Garlon] is the marvellest knight that is now living, for he destroyeth many good knights, for he goeth invisible.
What are... by Anonymous Coward · 2013-07-12 03:45 · Score: 0

immune system diseases?
*click*
Yeah, nailed it!
So... by Charliemopps · 2013-07-12 03:46 · Score: 2

So... they can make a disease now that re-sequences our DNA? Anyone else find that terrifying?
1. Re:So... by Anonymous Coward · 2013-07-12 03:53 · Score: 0
  
  Far less terrifying than the diseases they brewed up during the cold war.
2. Re:So... by TWX · 2013-07-12 03:57 · Score: 1
  
  Maybe that terrible James Bond movie with the Korean guy turning into Hugh Grant wasn't as far off-the-mark as we thought it was...
  
  --
  Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
3. Re:So... by ColdWetDog · 2013-07-12 03:59 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  First of all, it doesn't resequence DNA (if that is really a valid concept). It just ADDS a small bit of DNA into the genome.
  Just like viruses have been doing since, well, since there were viruses. But yes, it's potentially scary. So are nuclear weapons, particle beam accelerators and most politicians.
  Man up here. It's a big, dangerous world.
  And you're not getting out alive.
  
  --
  Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
4. Re:So... by Anonymous Coward · 2013-07-12 04:03 · Score: 0
  
  Not really. That's how a LOT of diseases work, after all.
5. Re:So... by CanHasDIY · 2013-07-12 04:04 · Score: -1, Flamebait
  
  Far less terrifying than the diseases they brewed up during the cold war.
  ... like HIV...
  
  --
  An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
6. Re:So... by Anonymous Coward · 2013-07-12 04:19 · Score: 1
  
  If we're choosing deaths could you please point me to the particle beam accelerator que?
7. Re:So... by Anonymous Coward · 2013-07-12 04:25 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  start doing things like extending telomeres, and overiding sections related to aging with this, and you might just get out alive.
8. Re:So... by Anonymous Coward · 2013-07-12 04:29 · Score: 1
  
  Gene therapy has been a thing for a while now. This is not new.
  Sure, could there be some Eugenics Wars using viruses to wipe out the weak and leave only the strong? Probably.
  But there has been wars since humans have existed, before, and will continue even when (if) we leave the planet and become a fully developed space society. There will be rebels, space pirates and all those fun things just like always.
  Even in a world where all the necessities of life were met and only luxuries costed any money, and even then that was cheap because we lived in a society where everything was plentiful due to us mining the solar system, there will still be fighting.
  Besides, most attack vectors could likely be defeated by simply wearing a mask. Then there would be water, food, those are considerably more vulnerable, food especially since it is in such a huge open area and it is going to be eaten. Water can be purified pretty easily, could you say the same for a viral-infected vegetable? Greenhouses would become a far larger deal, or possibly underground farms with massive massive metal sheets to prevent surface leakage to the ground below and a hole for the sunlight, or solar. Other things I am too lazy to think about ways to protect.
  Just feel lucky you weren't caught in the first attack, that is all you could really do. (I say first when there has already been many biological attacks over the years from man-made stuff)
  The world would change a lot of gene wars became a thing. It is crazy to even think about how much it would have to change for safety reasons alone.
  But stopping research isn't a good thing either.
  This research could lead to cures to those things as well. Along with fast sequencers and so on.
9. Re:So... by PRMan · 2013-07-12 05:21 · Score: 2
  
  First of all, it doesn't resequence DNA (if that is really a valid concept). It just ADDS a small bit of DNA into the genome.
  Just like viruses have been doing since, well, since there were viruses. But yes, it's potentially scary. So are nuclear weapons, particle beam accelerators and most politicians.
  Man up here. It's a big, dangerous world.
  And you're not getting out alive.
  Speak for yourself. I plan on going up in the rapture with Jesus...
  
  --
  Peter predicted that you would "deliberately forget" creation 2000 years ago...
10. Re:So... by Anonymous Coward · 2013-07-12 05:56 · Score: 0
  
  Should also add that this is only adjusting the DNA of T-Cells.
11. Re:So... by lister+king+of+smeg · 2013-07-12 06:55 · Score: 1
  
  as for the food being infected you could irradiate the food killing all of the contagions
  
  --
  ---Saying gnome 3 is better than windows 8 not so much a compliment as it is damning with light praise.
12. Re:So... by Anonymous Coward · 2013-07-12 07:13 · Score: 0
  
  I use to work in a accelerator lab.... it's not pretty, you basically die of radiation poisoning... not pretty, or quick.
13. Re:So... by Anonymous Coward · 2013-07-12 07:46 · Score: 0
  
  Extending telomeres just means more cancers. Living longer - if you can call it living.
14. Re:So... by St.Creed · 2013-07-12 08:16 · Score: 2
  
  "just" more cancers? That "just" means we don't fully understand the role of telomeres yet. They look like simple TTL counters. However, I have the feeling that, just as with most things in our bodies, they fulfill several different roles at different times or based on environmental triggers. I still think that if the cancers can be controlled, it would one of several very interesting options.
  Biosciences, the final frontier... If I was 18 and had to decide what to study again, I'm very sure it would be something in the biosciences. We're getting ready for one hell of a ride there.
  
  --
  Therefore, by the (faulty) logic you're using, you're just a cow with a keyboard - osu-neko (2604)
15. Re:So... by Anonymous Coward · 2013-07-12 09:08 · Score: 0
  
  "Man up here."
  Nothing says "I'm a douche" quite like that. Good show.
  You might as well follow up with an argument about why hitting children is necessary to instill a healthy fear of their parents, and how you turned out okay despite such beatings.
16. Re:So... by Anonymous Coward · 2013-07-12 10:10 · Score: 0
  
  I plan on going up in the rapture with Jesus...
  One of the most plausible solutions to the Fermi Paradox. Especially considering how interested the fluffy edge of Science is with multiverses and other similar ideas, lately...
  Transcendence isn't really all that unlikely, considering that we're here to think about it in the first place. Is absolutely anything possible in the future?
  Actually. Yes.
17. Re:So... by Anonymous Coward · 2013-07-12 12:20 · Score: 0
  
  If there's a way to donate into real longevity research, I'm emptying my wallet on it. That money ain't going to carry over to the next world.
18. Re:So... by mattack2 · 2013-07-12 12:58 · Score: 1
  
  Ya can't fool me, that involves RAY-DEE-AY-SHUN, we all dun found out that stuff is bad for ya.
19. Re:So... by Lotana · 2013-07-13 22:08 · Score: 1
  
  That is right! Did you know that those ignorant suckers are not aware that light is radiation! Every second they spend outside they get bombarded with it! Fools! Sane people like us stay in basements and only come out at night.
Sugar coated pill? by Anonymous Coward · 2013-07-12 03:48 · Score: 0

Nothing a bit of 'sugar' that is attached to a cohost can't seize
Resident Evil by Infiniti2000 · 2013-07-12 03:54 · Score: 2

I hope this isn't the real-world beginnings of the t-Virus.
1. Re:Resident Evil by GeekWithAKnife · 2013-07-12 03:59 · Score: 1
  
  The scary bit is that something of that sort might already have happened somewhere behind closed doors...in 50 - 75 years when documents are declassified you might hear about it. -Unless we have an Edward Snowden moment.
  
  --
  A 'singular oddity' is an event that cannot be explained and only happens when you are alone.
2. Re:Resident Evil by krakelohm · 2013-07-12 04:17 · Score: 1
  
  in 50 - 75 years when documents are declassified you might hear about it. -Unless we have an Edward Snowden moment.
  Or we have a Resident Evil moment...
  
  --
  You are all a bunch of idots.
3. Re:Resident Evil by cellocgw · 2013-07-12 05:01 · Score: 2
  
  Yeah, well, may I speak for legions of geeks who say our idea of a Resident Evil Moment is a night with some wicked hot dark-haired, green-eyed babe who favors tight leather -- and is rather acrobatic.
  
  --
  https://app.box.com/WitthoftResume Code: https://github.com/cellocgw
Berlusconi by aglider · 2013-07-12 03:59 · Score: 0

Next step is to use HIV to get rid of that other disease.

--
Sent as ripples into the electromagnetic field. No single photon has been harmed in the process.
So I have good news and bad news by Anonymous Coward · 2013-07-12 04:08 · Score: 0

The good news is, we fixed what was wrong with you!
The bad news is, now you have AIDS.
1. Re:So I have good news and bad news by Anonymous Coward · 2013-07-12 06:35 · Score: 0
  
  The good news is we removed all the genetic information that makes it harmful.
  
  The bad news is we accidentally left two kilos of medical instruments inside your chest and need to do a dangerous operation to remove them.
2. Re:So I have good news and bad news by Lotana · 2013-07-13 22:10 · Score: 1
  
  The good news is that we got everything out and you will be fine.
  The bad news is that we confused you with another patient and amputated your legs.
"stripped-down" by Amorymeltzer · 2013-07-12 04:12 · Score: 5, Insightful

There have been a number of these headlines the past few years and they all use the sensationalist headline of "HIV CURES DISEASE" which simply is not true. What is true is that genetic mechanisms that HIV, a lentivirus, uses to engineer cells are being re-purposed for medical benefit. The basic technique has been used in the laboratory for ages but the big headline here is not HIV but genetic engineering. This is as much HIV helping to cure a disease as getting X-rays at the dentist amounts to "DEATH RAY HELPS PREVENT CAVITIES!"

--
I live in constant fear of the Coming of the Red Spiders.
1. Re:"stripped-down" by TheSkepticalOptimist · 2013-07-12 05:44 · Score: 1
  
  Thanks for clearing that up, I obviously originally thought that the cure was to go down on a few dirty man-whores in a back alley, but I am glad researches found a better way to do it.
  
  --
  I haven't thought of anything clever to put here, but then again most of you haven't either.
2. Re:"stripped-down" by Anonymous Coward · 2013-07-12 05:46 · Score: 0
  
  I don't think there is much issue with such titles, unless you read into them too much. It is a headline, it will be missing details and qualifiers. Anytime I see a headline that says "X does Y", I don't assume that means X does Y under all circumstances and without any additional actions.
3. Re:"stripped-down" by Anonymous Coward · 2013-07-12 05:50 · Score: 0
  
  To be fair, this headline is "disease cured with the help of HIV," not "HIV cures disease." There's a pretty big difference.
4. Re:"stripped-down" by bill_mcgonigle · 2013-07-12 06:21 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  The basic technique has been used in the laboratory for ages
  Yeah, a friend of mine worked for a private research lab a decade ago and they were curing MS in mice models using an HIV vector, as just SOP (the HIV vector part was already old at that point). BTW, they abandoned that work for something that could pay the bills as they didn't have a business model that could earn enough to pay for the FDA-mandated trials. He tells me this kind of thing happens at labs all over the country and when it's a for-profit lab, they don't publish if they're going to reuse part of the tech in their next endeavor.
  
  --
  My God, it's Full of Source!
  OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
5. Re:"stripped-down" by Anonymous Coward · 2013-07-12 10:12 · Score: 0
  
  Leave it to some aspie geeks in lab coats to take all the joy out of life...
6. Re:"stripped-down" by Lotana · 2013-07-13 22:12 · Score: 1
  
  I am curious: Why HIV in particular? Aren't all viruses work by chaning genetic structure of a cell?
7. Re:"stripped-down" by bill_mcgonigle · 2013-07-15 12:59 · Score: 1
  
  Aren't all viruses work by chaning genetic structure of a cell?
  HIV is really good at its job. Check here.
  
  --
  My God, it's Full of Source!
  OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
Fucking with HIV by fnj · 2013-07-12 04:19 · Score: 1

What could POSSIBLY go wrong?
1. Re:Fucking with HIV by The+Rizz · 2013-07-12 04:29 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  What could POSSIBLY go wrong?
  You could get HIV pregnant.
2. Re:Fucking with HIV by ciderbrew · 2013-07-12 04:42 · Score: 1
  
  Kids grows up to be the next Hitler?
3. Re:Fucking with HIV by PRMan · 2013-07-12 05:22 · Score: 1
  
  There are plenty of atheists that want to round up and kill all Christians right now. We already have hundreds of candidates...
  
  --
  Peter predicted that you would "deliberately forget" creation 2000 years ago...
4. Re:Fucking with HIV by Anonymous Coward · 2013-07-12 06:07 · Score: 0
  
  Holy fuck are you retarded. You're the reason people want to kill christians.
5. Re:Fucking with HIV by Anonymous Coward · 2013-07-12 07:30 · Score: 0
  
  No reason to kill them, just abduct them and send them to "deprogramming" camp like they do for gays and atheists.
6. Re:Fucking with HIV by Anonymous Coward · 2013-07-12 07:51 · Score: 0
  
  A memetic, communicable disease that infects otherwise healthy and sane hosts, with no known cure? Leading to paranoia, delusions, auditory hallucinations, and psychosis?
  At the very least, it should be quarantined.
7. Re:Fucking with HIV by terjeber · 2013-07-13 08:34 · Score: 1
  
  Nah, only the retarded ones, like you. For the common good you know.
  Or to put it differently, I challenge you to name one.
Science, bitches! by Zaatxe · 2013-07-12 04:21 · Score: 1

Only science can turn a scourge into a cure!

--
So say we all
1. Re:Science, bitches! by LordLimecat · 2013-07-12 05:06 · Score: 1
  
  Thats sort of like saying "only math can add these two numbers together".
2. Re:Science, bitches! by Zaatxe · 2013-07-12 05:12 · Score: 1
  
  Thats sort of like saying "only math can add these two numbers together".
  Some religious people can argue that faith can also add two numbers together, if you catch my drift...
  
  --
  So say we all
It's not HIV any more... by Gavin+Scott · 2013-07-12 04:21 · Score: 4, Insightful

These stories always play off the "we're using scary HIV to cure you" angle, but they're just using components stolen from the HIV virus as tools or building-blocks to make something useful.
You might as well write a story that portrays bear-skin rugs as scary and dangerous because they were once part of a whole live bear.
And actually pretty much all of our recombinant DNA tools as well as many drugs like antibiotics are simply ancient things we stole from bacteria and other life forms. Somewhat annoyingly, Nature and 3+ billion years of evolution are still a lot better than we are at inventing things.
My definition of modern biology that I use to introduce it to computer people is: Hacking into ancient alien computer systems (stochastic digital computers not designed by the mind of man) to look for technology we can steal to cure cancer, solve world hunger, and produce renewable energy as well as whatever else we discover along the way.
G.
1. Re:It's not HIV any more... by elfprince13 · 2013-07-12 05:29 · Score: 2
  
  I understand the science here, and mostly agree with your statement, but your analogy is disingenous. Bear skin rugs are typically capable of neither reproduction nor mutation.
2. Re:It's not HIV any more... by Gavin+Scott · 2013-07-12 05:54 · Score: 4, Interesting
  
  True. Depending on the processes involved, the chance that a live intact HIV virus inadvertently makes it through the system into a patient is probably greater than getting home from the rug store to find out that a live bear made it through the rug making process.
  But on the other hand one of the researchers involved (or even TFA) might be able to explain to your satisfaction that the chances of these two different events are actually quite similar due to the methods being employed to produce the synthetic biology product.
  G.
3. Re:It's not HIV any more... by Anonymous Coward · 2013-07-12 06:05 · Score: 0
  
  "Nature and 3+ billion years of evolution are still a lot better than we are at inventing things."
  If you want to make this acceptable to creationists you need to replace the word "evolution" with "natural selection". Somehow they view this as God's work where evolution is evil.
4. Re:It's not HIV any more... by RJFerret · 2013-07-12 09:31 · Score: 2
  
  According to the pictures I've seen in Playboy when I'm flipping between articles, it seems bear skin rugs contribute more than 10% toward potential reproductive activities (fireplaces another 10%, amazing what we can turn these destructive forces to). I haven't seen follow ups to know if there's been any distinct mutations as the result of any reproduction due to the bear skin rugs or fires.
5. Re:It's not HIV any more... by Anonymous Coward · 2013-07-13 05:55 · Score: 0
  
  and catgirls,
  you forgot to mention catgirls!
P.S. If you find this stuff exciting... by Gavin+Scott · 2013-07-12 04:37 · Score: 4, Interesting

MITx is offering the second session of their free massively open course 7.00x on Introduction to Biology - The Secret of Life taught by one of the best teachers I have ever listened to, Eric Lander of MIT, which starts on Sept 10th:
https://www.edx.org/course/mit/7-00x/introduction-biology-secret-life/1014
This class is mostly about the molecular biology machinery that makes cells work, and it should be fascinating to anyone who finds the way computers work interesting because most of what goes on at the cellular level is actually information processing and digital operations (though based on stochastic principles).
Warning: this class might make you want to (or wish you could) change your career path...
G.
1. Re:P.S. If you find this stuff exciting... by Anonymous Coward · 2013-07-12 05:09 · Score: 0
  
  Is the first session available?
2. Re:P.S. If you find this stuff exciting... by Gavin+Scott · 2013-07-12 05:47 · Score: 1
  
  "Session" was the wrong term to use. It's the second time they're offering the class, and it's the complete class from the beginning, not a "part 2" as might have been suggested by my poor word choice :)
  G.
Sex with animals by Anonymous Coward · 2013-07-12 04:45 · Score: -1

I'm sure bestiality is relevant somewhere in this discussion.
Genetic Engineering by zbobet2012 · 2013-07-12 04:47 · Score: 2

It is here folks, we just did it, and we did it on a living human being. Take a moment to think about what that means.
Fountain of Youth by Anonymous Coward · 2013-07-12 05:36 · Score: 0

If HIV can be used to deliver repaired DNA, could it be used to deliver younger DNA???
Lol, can't wait for the advertising disclaimers by TheSkepticalOptimist · 2013-07-12 05:41 · Score: 2

Warning: This product might give you nausea, dry mouth, or AIDS.

--
I haven't thought of anything clever to put here, but then again most of you haven't either.
1. Re:Lol, can't wait for the advertising disclaimers by Anonymous Coward · 2013-07-12 15:13 · Score: 0
  
  People like you who are enjoying benefits of science/engineering innovation but show your stupidity. People in the past said the same with railroads and said it will destroy nature, bring diseases, bring illegals and so on, yet their children are enjoying the benefits of the same railroad based transportation. So, laugh at your stupidty. All these research allow us to understand the nature of the diseases and the possible cures. Out of one thousand experiments only one will be successful. It takes a long time to remove all impediments. Look at the airlines 30 years back and what is going on today. If you had born then, you might have said "LOL", disclaimer- fly at your own risk and carry your own parachute. People like you should be living in Africa or some desert.
2. Re:Lol, can't wait for the advertising disclaimers by iamacat · 2013-07-19 02:26 · Score: 1
  
  Hmm, for diseases we are talking about AIDS is wastly preferable to the original condition.
and when they have kids by Ralph+Spoilsport · 2013-07-12 06:18 · Score: 1

they pass on HIV DNA into the human genome? BRILLIANT.

--
Shoes for Industry. Shoes for the Dead.
1. Re:and when they have kids by Anonymous Coward · 2013-07-12 12:39 · Score: 0
  
  Yeah, in the same way that when you catch the flu, you pass it onto your future children via their DNA.
  idiot.
Ah, the Rapture. by stoploss · 2013-07-12 07:40 · Score: 1

Speak for yourself. I plan on going up in the rapture with Jesus...
Meh, no doubt so did most people present during the monologue of Matthew 16:27-28.
Ha ha, but clearly the joke was on them because Jesus must have known that the Wandering Jew was standing just behind the disciples. I mean, that's basic Occam's Razor, right?
Right?
tubGJirl by Anonymous Coward · 2013-07-12 08:07 · Score: -1

Start a" holy war
No they don't... by Anonymous Coward · 2013-07-12 09:50 · Score: 0

Or we wouldn't be a fucking nanny state :)
Jews shall stop in-breading and leave HIV alone! by Anonymous Coward · 2013-07-14 10:03 · Score: 0

I have a better idea: jews please stop in-breeding!
(Jews consider themselves the chosen people and think only jewish males have immortal souls, which will eventually go to Abraham's bosom. In contrast jewish women and all "goyim" people will simply crumble to dust of the earth, body and soul, as they die. Because of this self-appointed notion of chosen-ness, jews want to preserve the purity of their bloodlines, which means a jewish women shall only deliver children to a jewish guy, even if their ghetto community is small enough that all recognize each other by their palm-prints...)
The centuries old jewish in-breeding programme has resulted in a very large number of superhuman IQ jews (some 2/3rd of all Nobel prizes), but also a lot of pitiable cretins, who are rudely spiritied out of sight. (Einstein had a seriously mentally handicapped son, whom he promptly discarded and considered effectively dead.) By now, jewish inbreeding has progressed so far, that their basic bodily functions are often falling apart and most of modern day genetical research is about curing jews of their self-induced degradation of DNA.
A simpler solution would be for jews to abandon their "chosen nation" notion and sleep with goyim of the opposite sex, in order to refresh their offsprings' degraded DNA from a pool of more than 7billion goyim. Sure the jewish IQ would get lower as a side-effect, but that is not a problem. The in-breeding jewish race has always been using most of its IQ do "mischief", to put it mildly: fiddling goyim out of their money (entire countries of goyim), inciting wars among goyim nations to earn big money on speculation and war industry and waging wars against the ishmaelite (the arabs) to steal their lands.
Jewish IQ is evil IQ and therefore it should be lessened. (As the Rotschild mame put it some 190 years ago: there would be no wars in Europe if her 5 sons did not find them profitable.) In exchange, non-inbreading jews would gain healthier bodies. Jews living a life in healthy body, rather than being the prisoners of their over-refined minds, might even understand that there are more reasons to exist, beyond counting gold coins and indulging in being the secret puppet-masters of this planet!
More than 30M by RivenAleem · 2013-07-15 00:31 · Score: 1

Is still only 5 million per life saved, which I think is a fair bargain. That's of course if they simply stop there. 30M for the development of a single drug is chump change in Pharma industry. 30M for a process that will define a whole new branch of medicine is amazing.