AIDS .. actually cured... by scientists ... in simian trials

i would hope someone like mr. gates would put his money where his mouth is and buy up a bunch to give to africa.

of course, provided this works.


Not like it'll matter. The stuff will probably get stolen by warlords and the like. I wouldn't be surprised to hear that they later come and chop the immunised arm off for some stupid religious reason or to just make a point.

All the good will in the world means nothing in the face of ruthless ignorant, especially when there's plenty of them and they have AK-47s and pick up trucks with DSHKs.
 
Not like it'll matter. The stuff will probably get stolen by warlords and the like. I wouldn't be surprised to hear that they later come and chop the immunised arm off for some stupid religious reason or to just make a point.
Someone has been watching too much Apocalypse Now ;) There was even worse warlordism in Africa when we went after Small Pox, and we handled it.
 
Problem with the AIDS virus similar to influenca is that it mutates fast; because of this it was not possible in the past to find a medication that destroys "the" Aids virus. Vaccines always target a specific surface structure of a virus particle, so the situation will be similar to influenca: Broadband vaccines that treat against the most abundant strains, with every year new strains emerging which makes the used vaccines useless
 
Yes that is what a vaccine does. What makes this vaccine so revolutionary?

It could possibly make this a "template" for all other pathogen based dieses.
Such as (bird) flu.
 
It could possibly make this a "template" for all other pathogen based dieses.
Such as (bird) flu.

:confused:

No - I would not trust anyone who claimed such a thing.
Vaccines against flu and bird flu already exist and are ok in their efficiency - but the problem is with the high mutation rate of the flu virus that they loose some of their protectivity each year so the shot has to be administered yearly.
With this vaccine we will not gain a "template" for any other virus born diseases - at best we get a vaccine against HIV/AIDS which would already be great. The description of how this vaccine works given in that article is just a description how any vaccine works and is not specific to that HIV-vaccine. However if it does induce both a B-cell and a T-cell response and memory this vaccine is indeed a promising candidate - but then again in HIV/AIDS there have been so many promises already so I would not be too optimistic, when they come out of clinical trials we'll see what this is worth - not before...
 
Yeah but how long until its available to the public and in wide numbers?

Vaccines have to go through tons and tons of testing before released onto the market dont they?

4 years sounds very short...

Yes, it's a massive understatement. It could take that long to modify it for humans, and then clinical trials (Which will have to be co-ordinated on a MASSIVE scale- assuming that the vaccine actually gets used for poor Africans) will take a long time. However it is possible that they will be rushed through, although I wouldn't want to make the decision on that myself.
 
I'm a bit torn, as on one hand it's sure to reduce suffering; on the other hand, AIDS is/was useful in combatting overpopulation.
 
I'm a bit torn, as on one hand it's sure to reduce suffering; on the other hand, AIDS is/was useful in combatting overpopulation.

Let me point you to this discussion:
Always look on the bright side: AIDS will prevent overpopulation in certain African countries.

Yoda Power said:
Ehh... no. This is a common misunderstanding.

The birthrate in a country decreases pretty much only when there is economic growth (or war obviously, but that's another matter). Having so many people infected with AIDS, economic growth is hold back in many places.
What economic growth? There is no real economic growth that would meet the needs of growing population. It wasn't there even before AIDS first appeared, so you can't blame AIDS for their lack of economic competence.

Growing population is the problem of Africa. It is actually a huge problem, both economic and humanitarian. Since they're obviously unable to use contraception and limit it by the less inhuman ways, mother nature needs to use the time-proven way - disease.

If AIDS kills off a part of the surplus, it will give them time to adjust.

Yoda Power said:
I can blame AIDS for some of their lack of economic competence. Stating that AIDS does not affect the economy, when such a high percentage of the population is infected it's simply wrong.

What it really comes down to is this: Does the population explosion result in less economic growth? Or does less economic growth result in population explosion?
Fact is, that both are somewhat correct, and that's why Africa is stuck in such a bad situation, an evil circle if you like.

However removing one of the factors that contribute to the bad economy will be an improvement, and will not necessarily mean that the population growth rate increases further.
 
Bright day
Finally. You know; one would think, that with the number of peole who are immune to AIDS, they would have gotten it earlier.

The cynical reason why they did not come with an AIDS vaccine earlier is because the vast majority of people with AIDS are dirt-poor.

If it actually works; it seems like we come across one of these stories every few months and it never pans out.

That's my impression too. Should it work, however, then kudos to them.
 
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