Potential Cure for HIV?

[Smith]

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,21987942-2,00.html

In a breakthrough that could potentially lead to a cure for HIV infection, scientists have discovered a way to remove the virus from infected cells, a study released today said.

 

[kam!]

Sounds pretty promising, but for it to really cure an HIV infection, this enzyme would either have to get into every immune cell,
or be able to recognize infected cells.

But it's good that we're making progress.

 

[Pieter Paul Rubens]

Well tbh, and this might sound rude, but if we find a cure for HIV and start curing everyone in the world with it, then we'll have a huge problem with an overpopulated Africa.

 

[Almighty_Gir]

Sounds pretty promising, but for it to really cure an HIV infection, this enzyme would either have to get into every immune cell,
or be able to recognize infected cells.

er... isn't that what enzymes do? you know... target specific cells/minerals/etc.

Well tbh, and this might sound rude, but if we find a cure for HIV and start curing everyone in the world with it, then we'll have a huge problem with an overpopulated Africa.

which in turn, would lead to england being renamed "New Ghana".... ****ers...

 

[frsrblch]

Well tbh, and this might sound rude, but if we find a cure for HIV and start curing everyone in the world with it, then we'll have a huge problem with an overpopulated Africa.

Asia seems to be coping with it just fine. Besides, the odds are it will be discovered by some drug company in the US, who will never let such a drug be used by people without lots of money.

er... isn't that what enzymes do? you know... target specific cells/minerals/etc.

Actually, yeah, that's exactly what enzymes do, and they catalyze reactions n ****.

And if I had a quarter for every time I've heard about a near breakthrough, well, lets just say I could afford to take the bus more often. It was cancer a couple months ago, and diabetes a couple years before that (a bunch of their test subjects are off insulin for life, and now just have to take anti-rejection drugs, yet somehow the procedure doesn't work... ), and now they're this close to curing HIV. Well, no, clearly they aren't or we would have seen tons of diseases knocked out in the past decade with all these potential cures. I'll wait until they start curing people en masse to get excited.

 

[kam!]

er... isn't that what enzymes do? you know... target specific cells/minerals/etc.

Yea but body enzymes are produced mostly in the cells that need them.
Enzymes are pretty big structures, most of them can't just enter cells.
And to get a cell to produce an enzyme, you'd have to alter that cells DNA
(and you'd have to get it to express the code you em.bedded in the DNA.)

 

[Almighty_Gir]

but the very nature of an enzyme allows scientists to "program" them for a specific need. including the isolation and/or seperation of diseased or infected cells. so why is this so hard to imagine?

sure i don't think it's gonna be easy to do with HIV, in fact, i think the only perminent cure would be to find someone who is immune to it, and steal their antibodies... but it's certainly not impossible for an enzyme to do this.

 

[frsrblch]

but the very nature of an enzyme allows scientists to "program" them for a specific need. including the isolation and/or seperation of diseased or infected cells. so why is this so hard to imagine?

It's not that it's impossible for an enzyme to do these things, it's just that I think it's unlikely that their enzyme will be as effective at them as they make it sound.

 

[kam!]

but the very nature of an enzyme allows scientists to "program" them for a specific need. including the isolation and/or seperation of diseased or infected cells. so why is this so hard to imagine?

sure i don't think it's gonna be easy to do with HIV, in fact, i think the only perminent cure would be to find someone who is immune to it, and steal their antibodies... but it's certainly not impossible for an enzyme to do this.

The problem with HIV is not the virus itself, which could be fought with antibodies (maybe).
The problem is that it enters immune cells and incorporates it's genetic information into the hosts cells.
So each time the infected cells divide, the information of the virus is duplicated as well.
So those enzymes are a pretty promising way for a cure to HIV infections.

 

[Dokutayuu]

Sounds great. It's horrible how many people suffer because of AIDS. Directly or not.

The population problem... Um... If we all have one child it'll halve... Logical?

 

[J-Dude]

Well tbh, and this might sound rude, but if we find a cure for HIV and start curing everyone in the world with it, then we'll have a huge problem with an overpopulated Africa.

I'm a bit shocked, but I'll give the benefit of the doubt and assume you're making a really bad joke, becaue that's about one of the most racist things I've ever heard. People are people. We don't let some killer disease thrive to keep balance; every life is precious.

 

[dan_esf_fanatic]

Finally ffs >_>. After like 50 years (forgive my ignorance if this is incorrect) they're finally getting somewhere. I have the utmost high hopes for this, and sincerely hope that a cure for cancer will follow. GO MEDICINE!

 

[Pieter Paul Rubens]

I'm a bit shocked, but I'll give the benefit of the doubt and assume you're making a really bad joke, becaue that's about one of the most racist things I've ever heard. People are people. We don't let some killer disease thrive to keep balance; every life is precious.

And there we have the "racist" thing again.. No I'm not a racist, No I don't hate black people, no I don't want every black person dead, no I don't dress up as a retarded ghost and burn down crosses and churches -_- ****ed up how some people instantly call somebody a racist just because he said something bad about people that happen to be black.

If I would say that Lee is an idiot and I hate him, people would go "omg flamer".. If I go and say that Icey da Kid is an idiot and I hate him, I'm Hitler incarnate.. Makes you wonder who's being prejudice here, me or you..

 

[J-Dude]

And there we have the "racist" thing again.. No I'm not a racist, No I don't hate black people, no I don't want every black person dead, no I don't dress up as a retarded ghost and burn down crosses and churches -_- ****ed up how some people instantly call somebody a racist just because he said something bad about people that happen to be black.

If I would say that Lee is an idiot and I hate him, people would go "omg flamer".. If I go and say that Icey da Kid is an idiot and I hate him, I'm Hitler incarnate.. Makes you wonder who's being prejudice here, me or you..

Hey man, you're the one suggesting HIV/AIDS should be kept alive in the third world to control the population. Sorry if I find that notion sick.

 

[kam!]

Hey man, you're the one suggesting HIV/AIDS should be kept alive in the third world to control the population. Sorry if I find that notion sick.

He never said "Don't cure Aids". He just said we'll get population problems that we have to face if Aids is cured.

 

[vinay87]

Uh... China and India are a hell of a lot more populated than Africa....

Theyll cure aids... just like the plague eventually got a cure.
Then something new comes along. Nature maintains the balance by finding a way of its own.


I sure hope they cure it though....
Next up Diabetes.... mehopes

 

[frsrblch]

I'm a bit shocked, but I'll give the benefit of the doubt and assume you're making a really bad joke, becaue that's about one of the most racist things I've ever heard. People are people. We don't let some killer disease thrive to keep balance; every life is precious.

Pointing out causality is hardly racism. It's like calling statements such as "stop bombing them and they won't hate you" "un-American." Overpopulation doesn't seem like that big a problem anyway. They still have wars and genocide a plenty. Besides, Asia seems to be getting along fie with it's massive population densities. No worries.

 

[Almighty_Gir]

Vinay, firstly, HIV is not AIDS, and AIDS is not HIV. they are related, but can exist without each other.

secondly. The Black Death, or.. the Beubonic plague, was a bacterial disease, carried by fleas from the black rats around london (and many other places in europe). as a bacterial disease, it is much MUCH easier to fight, than a virus. for which current science is till yet to be able to effectively CURE.

we can TREAT a virus, but we cannot cure it.

 

[ZeroNightmare]

would be neat if they could do something like this for cancer

 

[frsrblch]

Vinay, firstly, HIV is not AIDS, and AIDS is not HIV. they are related, but can exist without each other.

AIDS is caused by HIV... you can have HIV with no AIDS, but you can't have AIDS without HIV.