Antibody Discovered To Boost HIV Vaccines 144
An anonymous reader sends this clip from Scienceblog.com. "Scientists have discovered two potent human antibodies that can stop more than 90 percent of known global HIV strains from infecting human cells in the laboratory, and have demonstrated how one of these disease-fighting proteins accomplishes this feat. ... Research efforts to find individual antibodies that can neutralize HIV strains have been difficult because the virus continuously changes its surface proteins to evade recognition by the immune system. As a consequence of these changes, an enormous number of HIV variants exist worldwide. However, there are a few surface areas that remain nearly constant across all variants of HIV and scientists have now discovered two potent human antibodies that attach to one of these sites and can stop more than 90 percent of known global HIV strains from infecting human cells in the laboratory. ... The researchers also confirmed that VRC01 does not bind to human cells — a characteristic that might otherwise lead to its elimination during immune development, a natural mechanism the body employs to prevent autoimmune disease."
Re:Techno Puzzle (Score:4, Insightful)
and yet I wonder if the guy whose body they came from will get any piece of the profits.. Let's hope he does..
Why?
The only logically reason why he deserves anything would be to encourage others to get tested for similar things, and I don't see too many researchers looking desperately looking for random people to come forward and have their antibodies tested.
Re:Progress on this front is good (Score:4, Insightful)
So it's a win for the medical community and human race in general either way.
Re:Progress on this front is good (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Sounds good... (Score:5, Insightful)
HIV off the radar? (Score:4, Insightful)
I grew up in the 80s when HIV was big news and - here in the UK - TV ads warning of the dangers of unsafe sex were aired. A whole generation seemed to have grown up paranoid (perhaps rightly) about unprotected sex.
That seems to have faded and it's now seen as largely a third world problem. It seems that teenagers and twenty somethings have drifted back into behaviour that predated the advent of AIDS - and more. It's like they've worked out that it's still unlikely to affect them as it hasn't really got a grip in their demographic.
Sadly that's led to a massive increase in other, albeit treatable, STDs.
Re:So... (Score:3, Insightful)
yes, at 1/10th the rate... that is a good thing
Re:Pshhh (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Sounds good... (Score:3, Insightful)
Vaccines and antibiotics have never been more than a temporary measure against disease. Resistant HIV strains will become more common, just as resistant strains of Staph have. But if we can save millions of lives in the mean time, that's a good thing.
90 percent isn't good enough (Score:2, Insightful)
The 10 percent that that are immune to the antibodies will take over and become the new 90 percent.
Re:HIV off the radar? (Score:4, Insightful)
What I think is more depressing is a sense of the inevitability of AIDS, coupled with a sense that AIDS is at least manageable (IF you have good medical insurance) that leads a lot of young gay men to pretty much shrug and decide they'll deal with AIDS when they get it. My girlfriend's best friend is a wonderful guy and not particularly stupid, but he was all twitterpated over this boy in California who was HIV positive, and was ready to go out there and move in with the guy, and when we were like "WHY??!?" he shrugged and said "love's worth AIDS." Which makes me question my characterization of him as not particularly stupid, but I think twenty-three-year-olds sometimes have issues actually comprehending what 50 years of an expensive daily drug regimen would be like.
Re:Intelligent Design (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Pshhh (Score:2, Insightful)
I'm pretty ok with people getting money for doing something valuable. I was happy when Linus became a millionaire, I'll be happy if the people who invent an AIDS vaccine become millionaires. Other people having money doesn't reduce my happiness one bit, and when they get it for doing something awesome, it increases my happiness.
That would be great if it were that simple. However, we are flush with companies that will do anything to suppress the 'cure' research while working full out on the 'maintenance' research. The old "take this for the rest of your life" is a cash cow forever. A 'cure' will not be found in the good ole USA. We are capitalists and if there is no big money involved, it won't happen. A cure stops the profit.