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See the original image at sciencedaily.com —

Major Discovery: Pathologists Have Found the Weakness of HIV

sciencedaily.com — Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) researchers at The University of Texas Medical School at Houston believe they have uncovered the Achilles heel in the armor of the virus that continues to kill millions. The weak spot is hidden in the HIV envelope protein gp120, which is essential for HIV attachment to host cells.

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  • hugoguzman, on 07/16/2008, -4/+56This could be a tremendous breakthrough, but for some reason, I anticipate new viral threats will evolve to keep pace with human ingeniuty.
    • megaton, on 07/16/2008, -1/+10Yeah? Well, virii don't have frickin LAZOR BEAMZ!!

      Take THAT, evolution!
    • kd1s, on 07/16/2008, -0/+3Of course, even viruses mutate. But HIV has been one tough one to solve and I'm glad we're seeing progress in this.

      I have to wonder though, what if Reagan had thrown some research money into in the 80's. I'm lead to the conclusion that it wouldn't have helped much since genetic sequencing really didn't kick off until the mid 90's and on.

      But it makes the lives lost by friends of mine worth it in the long run if we can eliminate this scourge on humanity.
    • reastydirtstar, on 07/16/2008, -5/+0typical it would be a couple of chinks and an indian working on this. that's just what the world needs is all those smelly africans staying alive longer to further pollute the once clean air with their stinky breath
    • XZanatos, on 07/17/2008, -0/+1We, human kind, managed to eradicate small pox (along with thousands of animal species) so its quite possible we could beat HIV.
    • Smills, on 07/17/2008, -0/+2Taken from Aroundtheworls' comment below:

      http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=990 ...

      The above link shows that this has in-fact been done before, it just isn't the kind of thing that drug companies will sell.

      From a purely business perspective, selling something like this would be madness. They can either sell monthy drug cocktails to keep customers alive for around 2grand per month for the rest of that persons life, or one single drug that cures it forever. Even if they charge $10,000 it still represents a major loss for them. Not going to happen.
  • HerbertWest, on 07/16/2008, -2/+32I hope this is true.
    • modelcadet, on 07/16/2008, -5/+1Not another story from Science Daily! Everybody knows Dan and Michele Hogan are practically working for the Obama campaign. /s
  • kpmoore, on 07/16/2008, -1/+139I prefer injecting large amounts of cash.
    • thunderl, on 07/16/2008, -33/+5dugg for South Park reference!
      • tapeworm77, on 07/16/2008, -1/+12Buried for obviousnessnessness... ness.
    • ATLien74, on 07/16/2008, -3/+1He's still lookin' good!
      His name is Jared
      His name is Jared and he likes to eat the sandwiches...
    • the1danimal, on 07/16/2008, -0/+6Haha why didnt Magic tell us earlier! So many lives could have been saved!
    • raynar, on 07/16/2008, -1/+2Now, we will develop a cure with this knowledge, sell it to pharmaceutical companies so they can shelve it, along with the cure for cancer, and retire to the bahamas.
      • Gudeldar, on 07/16/2008, -0/+2Because drug companies wouldn't make money off a ***** HIV vaccine?

        Think about mandatory vaccinations for every person in the US, and assuming a fairly modest cost of $5 a vaccine. That would mean $1.5 billion dollars right there. I'm sure some evil executive is going to put it on the shelf because he likes people dying of ***** AIDs more than he does money.
      • bobbi21, on 07/16/2008, -1/+3Uh. Maybe you should do the math again. A little over a million people in the US have HIV. Do you have any idea how much HIV drugs cost? You usually get a cocktail of around 4 drugs and each drug costs maybe $600 a month. (Ranges from like $300 to $1200) So thats $2400 a month, $28,800 a year. For the 1,000,000 ppl that'll be $28,800,000,000. Almost $29 billion a YEAR compared to $1.5 billion every what? 70 years for the population to turnover? (of course you'll get that more spread out since you'll be vaccinating kids as they are born). Thats already a 1/1400 pay cut. Not to mention drug money made through hospitalizations, recurrent infections, pain killers when it gets near the end.

        NB: I probably should have used the number of people with AIDS instead of HIV in my calculations since if you're HIV positive you aren't constantly on drugs. but the ppl with full blown AIDS is a little less than half the number of ppl with HIV so its still a 1/700 pay cut.
      • raynar, on 07/16/2008, -1/+1mandatory vaccinations? sure, let the government put whatever they want in me.
    • billyf1, on 07/16/2008, -4/+0i think i just ***** myself laughing.
      yes, i did.
      that is all.
    • meeks82, on 07/17/2008, -0/+3I'm not just sure. I'm HIV positive.
    • thendustinsaid, on 07/17/2008, -0/+1$180,000 US, to be exact, which is a bargain for Europeans these days.
  • Phoros, on 07/16/2008, -10/+4Lupus saves the day!
    • marcusbrutus, on 07/16/2008, -0/+9It's not Lupus!

      Sorry someone had to say it.
      • 2balls1cup, on 07/16/2008, -0/+1Except that one time that it was.
    • peterfnet, on 07/16/2008, -0/+1Autoimmune! Oh wait, that's the opposite of the problem...
  • cg4et, on 07/16/2008, -3/+31There are literally scores of proteins like this one that are potential weaknesses of the HIV virus. I'm no expert, but my understanding is that all of the drugs that are part of the so-called "cocktail" treatments involve blocking some combination of these proteins, thereby keeping the virus from replicating.
    • Godwhacker, on 07/16/2008, -1/+10True - but this discovery is markedly different. Instead of attacking replicating proteins with a chemotherapeutic agent (the category of medicine that all current AIDS drugs fall in), they have discovered a naturally occurring immune response that does the job of killing the virus far more effectively, and hopefully without all the dreadful side-effects. Only time will tell.
    • allatti2d, on 07/16/2008, -0/+7From the article, it appears that this particular protein contains certain amino acids, which are the steady-state building blocks of AIDS. Since HIV is constantly changing and adapting, we can't kill it; and what is worse is that there are so many strains all over the world that are constantly changing. It looks like these scientists found the common ground to target, regardless of the strain -- the soft underbelly, as it were.

      Good for them! I just hope the cure doesn't create more problems. I thought it was interesting that they are using antibodies from people with lupus to target these nasty little AIDS amino acids!
    • bobbi21, on 07/16/2008, -0/+2I would like to be optimistic but we have been fooled by HIV before. Proteins we thought were constant turned out to be variable once we developed drugs that targeted it . Since they're looking for an immune response to HIV instead of just a drug that can be helpful in keeping up with changes but we shouldn't underestimate this thing.
  • mikephimikephi, on 07/16/2008, -2/+146protein gp120...I knew it!!!
    • geoken, on 07/16/2008, -8/+1I saw that dude at the mall last week and just knew there was something shady about him.
    • Aroundtheworls, on 07/16/2008, -1/+15So have others...

      "Some 15,000 vials of a colorless, odorless, waterlike liquid are lined up in trays in a room so cold, so remorselessly quiet, you can't help thinking of it as a tomb. In a way, it is. Each vial contains a one-milliliter dose of a product known as gp120, which has cost its manufacturer, Genentech, $100 million and untold grief. Is gp120, as some scientists believe, a crucial first approximation of the desperately needed vaccine to prevent AIDS? Or is it, as others say, nothing more than expensive dishwater? No one knows. Neither Genentech's product nor a similar vaccine made by Chiron Biocine has yet been tested enough to tell. So far, no vials have passed through the enormous steel doors to the loading dock beyond and from there into syringes and into the arms of the 10,000 volunteers whose bodies alone can answer the question. Instead, the vials sit and wait, with nothing to interrupt their silence but a workman's boom box"

      Link: http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=990 ...

      Click on the link and take a look at the date of that article.
      • Rulz1234, on 07/16/2008, -0/+3we should charge these people with crimes against humanity ... i honestly think some of these big companies need real consiquences for there actions
  • cwmather, on 07/16/2008, -26/+7Has anyone found the cure for Jack Thompson?

    http://digg.com/gaming_news/Jack_Thompson_was_Righ ...
    • snotrokit, on 07/16/2008, -1/+12I believe you will have to inject a mixture of disbar, cease and desist.
  • catcher6250, on 07/16/2008, -2/+23That guy on the left is awesome
    • FeloniusMonkey, on 07/16/2008, -1/+12No Kumar, daddy is not coming on anything!
    • Tomchei, on 07/16/2008, -8/+1No white guys. An Indian, a Chink, and a broad.
  • Fast05GT, on 07/16/2008, -17/+12Yea, like they havent had the cure for HIV and AIDS for years now. Magic Johnson is still shooting 3's at his house and they just came out with this. gimme a break
    • Carbonizer, on 07/16/2008, -2/+9It's because he can afford the medicine mixtures needed to keep HIV in check inside his body
      • allatti2d, on 07/16/2008, -1/+5The article said there are people who have HIV that never go on to develop AIDS. I worked at an STD clinic and knew several HIV positive people. I even knew one girl who was immune to HIV; she had been married to 2 HIV positive men, one of whom died from AIDS, and she never contracted HIV. I tried talking her into going in to a clinical study to donate her blood and have them run some tests that might spin off a vaccine, but she never did, so far as I know.

        Perhaps Magic Johnson is one of those people who can live for many years without developing AIDS. It is quite likely that the money he has affords him great doctors and great medicines that most AIDS victims cannot get.
    • RudeTurnip, on 07/16/2008, -2/+13Am I the only one who went out and bought a ton of Magic Johnson trading cards when he announced he had HIV?
    • nmnnotmyname, on 07/16/2008, -11/+4"It's because he can afford the medicine mixtures needed to keep HIV in check inside his body"

      They probably know the cure but want a treatment so people have to keep on paying for the treatment.
      • kerouaciandream, on 07/16/2008, -2/+13That's a fairly hefty accusation to make without specifying who "they" are. I can only assume you mean drug companies, and I think you're giving them credit for a lot of power they don't have. Research into a cure is funded by many sources, many of which don't have a monetary interest in suppressing a cure, such as governments, non-profit organizations, and drug companies who don't hold patents on the antiretroviral drugs.

        Beyond that, it would be a pretty idiotic researcher who would bow to any kind of financial pressure when it comes to a cure for HIV. After all, do you really think that, if this development leads to a cure, the researchers in the article will ever be hurting for grant money ever again? With a line like "Cured AIDS" on their resume, people will be lining up to fund them. Once they've gone through their Nobel money, that is.
      • drgreenberg, on 07/16/2008, -0/+7Do you realize how much more you could charge for a cure? Far more than the cumulative cost of treatment medications, since those don't necessarily work forever and most people would pay quite a lot to get rid of an ultimately fatal disease.
      • KyleGoetz, on 07/16/2008, -1/+13You assume that not a single scientist who worked on a cure would leak to any HIV-infected family member that, "Hey, you know we found a cure."

        Do you seriously believe every funded HIV-researcher (including at public schools like UTHSC) in the country is that corrupt?
      • nmnnotmyname, on 07/16/2008, -4/+1Independant researchers would have more of a problem finding such a cure than companies involved with drug testing. And they're companies - so i seriously doubt they wouldn't opt to go for the option that continues to get them money instead of charging a value not a single person would pay anyways.
    • funkydunks, on 07/16/2008, -9/+1hahahaha fast05gt you hit the nail on the head. HIV doesn't effect rich people, it was designed to do what it is doing. Feeding on the poor, savaging through 3rd world countries. There is no way this virus just appeared naturally. IT is WAY too smart and complex. Exactly, intelligent design.
  • duk0r, on 07/16/2008, -10/+15Where are your anti-texan jokes now?
    • nmnnotmyname, on 07/16/2008, -7/+4Most texans are still crazy as hell, so you'll have to wait longer for that to end.
      • soupdawg30, on 07/16/2008, -4/+3Crazy maybe, idiots no.
      • nmnnotmyname, on 07/16/2008, -9/+2Actually, most of the crazies are idiots or religious freaks. Wait, those are all the same thing... well you get my point.
    • darkphenox, on 07/16/2008, -2/+6It looks like one person might be from Texas, most researchers at schools are from different places then where the school is located.
    • ParanoydAndroid, on 07/16/2008, -2/+5He's in the White House ...
  • alanr19, on 07/16/2008, -25/+11They should quit wasting their time on this and pool together to fight cancer as this kills 100s of times more people. Aids is mostly (but not always) a self inflicted disease (unprotected sex, intravenous needle sharing etc. making up the vast bulk of cases)

    *yes I'm aware there are cases where AIDS is spread of contaminated blood transfusions, sexual assaults etc. but these are a tiny minority.
    • jedicor, on 07/16/2008, -4/+11...quit wasting their time on it? Why? Because it'll just go away in the long run? Because it's no big deal? Take a couple stupid kids who like to have sex. One of them is likely to get aids. They're just as likely to not know or care, and continue to spread it. Multiply a few generations. Is it a big enough problem yet? We're already several generations into this problem, and it's only getting worse.

      Cancer can be driven off, successfully removed, or in some cases, it's terminal. AIDS doesn't come in a thousand varieties that vary from simple to fatal. It starts at life-threateningly debilitating and proceeds to fatal after that.
      • alanr19, on 07/16/2008, -3/+2Nobody's saying HIV is no big deal, as you well know. Its a question of prioritization. There is only a finite research capacity out there. Cancer kills many times more people than HIV or AIDS and so should be given absolute priority.

        As for your statement
        "Cancer can be driven off, successfully removed, or in some cases, it's terminal"
        Its a question of WHEN the cancer is found and WHAT PART of the body is affected. You cannot have it "driven off" at will, sometimes it will help often it won't again depending on timing and location of the tumor. As regards your statement of
        "Cancer can be driven off, successfully removed, or in some cases, it's terminal.",
        every day in the US an estimated 1500 people die of cancer ( http://www.cancure.org/statistics.htm ). Many times more than that have their lives destroyed by cancer through blindness, loss of limbs, loss of genitals, loss of breast(s), vocal chords, internal organs etc. etc. etc. Far more people are effected either directly or indirectly by cancer than AIDS. No question.

        Since 1981 worldwide 25 million people have died of AIDS/HIV ( http://www.avert.org/worldstats.htm ), many times that number have died of cancer in that time. (The estimates vary widely but are all many time more than 25 million)

        You statement about there being different forms of cancer and only one form of HIV/AIDS is false. HIV has mutated many times and there are consequently many forms of the infection. The fact is that AIDS is quite avoidable, cancer may not be. just because you don't smoke doesn't mean you won't get it.
      • earnjam, on 07/16/2008, -0/+3"We're already several generations into this problem, and it's only getting worse."

        Actually, the total number of worldwide deaths from AIDS is decreasing. I'm NOT saying that means we shouldn't research a cure/vaccine, so don't yell at me. I'm just pointing that out.
      • diggThis77, on 07/16/2008, -1/+2Alanr19 and if you're one of those people that gets AIDS because you're in a car wreck with a unit of blood from someone with AIDS are you going to say the same thing?? The other point I'd offer is by that line of thought then all researchers that are working on cancer should stop working on their flavor of cure and work on just one cure for cancer.
      • alanr19, on 07/16/2008, -0/+1@diggThis77

        Read the last line of my original post again. Here's a site that you might find useful while doing so:
        http://dictionary.reference.com/
    • marksism, on 07/16/2008, -3/+16you are aware that it is possible to research more than one thing at once, right? You've been playing a bit too much Civilization.
      • alanr19, on 07/16/2008, -4/+3Yes because we are clearly winning the war against these diseases by spreading our research resources so thinly. So thinly in fact that we constantly get sheisters like these guys in the article making grand claims about discoveries in the hopes of securing big funding dollars. Its all about keeping the lab well funded. I have research insight and know damn well how things work.

        Here on Digg we get about 5 or 6 of these stories every month. Everyone who reads the articles seems fully convinced that we've cured the incurable and pats themselves on the back for being a member of such a wonderful species., but back in the real world nothing ever happens though does it?

        See the pattern yet?
    • alpha94, on 07/16/2008, -2/+7There are many causes, you want to give up on all of them because you think cancer is the one and only one to try and resolve?
      • alanr19, on 07/16/2008, -3/+3Well the alternatives doesn't really seem to be working now do they? Research capacity is a finite resource so we should pool together and hammer one disease at a time, at least that way we'll get there.

        This story is just a publicity shakedown for more funding. There are about 5 or 6 of them every month on Digg and every time its posted everyone is in awe that we're finally able to cure the incurable. But it never really happens does it?
    • JBrown99, on 07/16/2008, -2/+9There are 2.5 million children with AIDS, almost all of whom got it simply because their mother had it.
      • alanr19, on 07/16/2008, -4/+3Read the last line of my post again or better yet get a grown up to help you.

        There's a good lad.
    • Aitese, on 07/16/2008, -3/+4Right, and the large amount of people who get various cancers from smoking, excessive tanning, poor diet and and such...those are not self inflicted? Lets ignore that appx 1,400 CHILDREN who have no say in the matter die every DAY from HIV/AIDS related illnesses.

      http://www.uniteforchildren.org/youth/youth_29272. ...

      Or we could let the people who have dedicated their lives and talent to saving lives get on with it instead of bitching on the Internet.
      • alanr19, on 07/16/2008, -6/+3"Or we could let the people who have dedicated their lives and talent to saving lives get on with it instead of bitching on the Internet."

        Settle down sport, I'm not bitching just pointing out that research capacity is finite and has been for years and no game winning breakthrough has been made against either disease so maybe its best they pool resources to beat one disease at a time.

        "and the large amount of people who get various cancers from smoking, excessive tanning, poor diet and and such..."

        what numbers? care to back up your words with figures?
      • teh_techie, on 07/16/2008, -1/+4"Pooling resources" might not work all that well. You're assuming that someone who has spent their entire life on AIDS research has the knowledge to research cancer instead.

        Thats like saying: We need more ambulance drivers than casino dealers... so lets pool them together and put them where we need them.
      • alanr19, on 07/16/2008, -1/+1@teh_techie
        true they are different fields but not so different that they could not make a valuable contribution to that other field. its all about finding weaknesses in a biological system, be it a cancerous cell or a virus. They all respond to stimuli, and thats what these guys do all day long. Subject virus and cell culture samples to external stimuli (chemical, biological, genetic, thermal, radioactive, all in different measures and combinations) all day long and record the results. The difference is not as big as you might think.

        "Thats like saying: We need more ambulance drivers than casino dealers... so lets pool them together and put them where we need them."

        The army works in that fashion and you better believe THEY get the job done in an emergency. For example, need more engineers than infantrymen? Then reassign. And besides the 2 professions you cite are further apart then cancer researcher Vs AIDS researcher.
      • Aitese, on 07/16/2008, -0/+1"what numbers? care to back up your words with figures?"

        No, no...I concede that point, I'm sure lung and skin cancer is only a small problem.

        Again, why don;t you take your hairbrain schemes for "pooling" intelligence to the sort of people who have spent the last decade or so coming up with a little blue pill to keep peoples dicks hard and leave AIDS experts to their work.
    • alanr19, on 07/16/2008, -0/+1I see a lot of people take issue with my comments, I'm not saying AIDS is insignificant just not AS significant a problem as cancer.
      • snarfyboy, on 07/16/2008, -1/+1If it ever becomes airborne, I bet you will be singing a different tune. This is why viruses are a serious matter and need research. Cancer will never become airborne. It's not a virus. It's not catching. Cancer has no potential to wipe out that human race as a whole. Viruses do.

        You are comparing apples to oranges. Besides, Cancer studies still receive more funding. I'm gay and I still give more money to Cancer research the HIV/AIDS every year.
      • alanr19, on 07/16/2008, -0/+1@snarfyboy

        You stupid *****. The HIV virus cannot live without a host. Its part of its actual inner workings that it needs to bind in order to survive. This has been well publicized. Mutations merely change the WAY in which it binds.

        You said "I'm gay and I still give more money to Cancer research the HIV/AIDS every year."

        Way to go off topic *****. Homosexuality is nothing to do with it. AIDS is not homosexuality, or are you implying that somehow it is?

        That is by far the dumbest comment I've ever seen on Digg. Well done.
  • FreDre, on 07/16/2008, -3/+80This is like the 14th time I saw a major breakthrough on the discovery of a potential cure for HIV, Cancer, etc. on Digg.
    Still, nice article.
    • ZakMcRofl, on 07/16/2008, -0/+3314th? You must be new here...
    • cohortq, on 07/16/2008, -1/+4Imagine if we combined all the weaknesses of HIV from the digg front page, we can solve the AIDS epidemic in our lifetimes. Any Medical PHD's up to this task? Just search digg front page stories for HIV, that's all the research you need!
      • Robthefrog, on 07/16/2008, -0/+0That's what kind of sucks about these kinds of stories though :( ... They have like breakthroughs everyday. So how come we aren't curing people? Why are the solutions stuck in the lab?
      • catcher6250, on 07/16/2008, -0/+1We aren't curing them completely but we certainly making people last longer. In fact, when it comes to HIV/AIDS, its actually almost gotten worse for people surviving into old age with it. The older they become, the harder it is for them to live.
    • VodkanLemons, on 07/16/2008, -0/+1Diggers have long cured every disease in the world, but the rest of the world is still lagging
  • bjornski, on 07/16/2008, -9/+25"Hey! They just found the cure for AIDS! You just have to inject yourself with all your cash! Woohoo! "
    • bjornski, on 07/18/2008, -0/+39 diggs down?

      You people are uncultured! UNCULTURED, I tell you!
  • xsecretfiles, on 07/16/2008, -10/+3Yay~~ hopefully nobody finds a cure for my weakness to sex
    • Dozernotz, on 07/16/2008, -0/+3Sorry. Your sexual weakness is chronic. We have no cure. We have no comfort.
    • michael43, on 07/16/2008, -0/+1I don't think they are looking for a "sex with yourself" cure.
  • nmnnotmyname, on 07/16/2008, -6/+8I know what most people are thinking about now:
    1 step closer to no condoms.

    But still a while to go to those people :P
  • bogoslav, on 07/16/2008, -13/+6I don't believe this will work. First, I hear about such discoveries too often, and they never work, second, let's be honest -- cancer and AIDS are a great way for some world-famous companies to earn millions and millions every year. Sorry to say, but it's just a business for them.
    • enVisionGTR, on 07/16/2008, -0/+7Do you understand how much money research commands on a day to day basis? Have you taken a microbiology or biochemistry lab and were expected to explain the difficulties and mishaps that go on during experimentation, not to mention the amount of trials and errors. It is not simple as adding X to Y to create Z. It is difficult enough to establish a control in a lab. It's even more difficult knowing that 6 billion people have 6 billion different genetic sequences that can be affected by many different pathogens, let alone a constantly mutating organism such as HIV.

      Medical science demands more money than any other educational field due to the equipment and supplies needed which to say the least, are not cheap to create because it is tedious and time consuming to produce. Scientific equipment are not consumer like ipods or tvs where the components are constantly getting cheaper on an exponential basis.

      Instead of expecting a revolutionary development, people should expect the outcomes to be evolutionary.
  • kaiquan, on 07/16/2008, -0/+2This is the best sounding breakthrough of all! Hopefully it works! If so, then that's the nobel prize winners of the year.
    • KyleGoetz, on 07/16/2008, -0/+5You typically don't win a Nobel prize until decades after your research comes out. For example, the Nobel Committee wouldn't want to award a Nobel prize the year this cure comes out, and then 10 years down the road we learn that the cure causes cancer, birth defects, and a weak autoimmune system in babies.
      • catcher6250, on 07/16/2008, -0/+3How do I get onto the committee?
      • theviceroy, on 07/16/2008, -0/+2You have to hate mathematicians I think.
  • WhiteShadow89, on 07/16/2008, -4/+21The all powerful DIGG cures yet another terminal illness. /golfclap
    • nmnnotmyname, on 07/16/2008, -1/+11Digg users help cure it by not having sex
  • jcannonb, on 07/16/2008, -7/+2It's about damn time. AIDS is one of those things that just needs to go away. Major Pharma is scared they will lose a cash cow, but the truth is new virii and bacteria popup and mutate all the time.
  • frostbyt, on 07/16/2008, -10/+5"They could also be used to guard against sexual HIV transmission as topical vaginal or rectal formulations."

    So now I can go into a womans vagina and rectum without worry of hiv. Thanks science you have made my day.

    :)
  • BlueYetti13, on 07/16/2008, -2/+27So....the cure for HIV......is.....lupus?
    • mojoel, on 07/16/2008, -0/+3Yeah! That's the question I was asking myself after I read it too. If one is cured of HIV is there a possibility of developing lupus?
      • michael43, on 07/16/2008, -6/+2Isn't lupus the disease that makes you lazy? I may already have it. I wonder if you can get a disability check for lupus?
      • allatti2d, on 07/16/2008, -0/+5I spotted that one too. However, it's the lupus antibody they're fishing out to work on this, not lupus itself. It would be great if they discover a cure for lupus along the way.

        * Lupus is an autoimmune disease that can be fatal. Sorry Michael43, it's not a lazy disease.
    • Dozernotz, on 07/16/2008, -0/+1No HIV and no Lupus?

      Everyone wants to have their cake and eat it too.
    • coleki, on 07/16/2008, -0/+9it's never lupus!
    • locotx, on 07/16/2008, -0/+0"Don't Throw it to Lupis !"
  • krische, on 07/16/2008, -4/+11Yeah its been about a month since the last break through AIDS article on digg. Now we just need another article about some breakthrough in solar energy and the universe is balanced.
  • salinemist, on 07/16/2008, -14/+22Cure for AIDS: Stop ***** strangers, stop sharing needles.
    • nmnnotmyname, on 07/16/2008, -3/+2Well the first one's obviously not an option, So portable STD test kits are going to be the next big thing :P
      • KyleGoetz, on 07/16/2008, -0/+5I dunno...I've succeeded on both points pretty successfully.
      • nmnnotmyname, on 07/16/2008, -0/+7Yeah, but a lot of people are simply going to refuse the first one.
        Me? I can't get laid anyways so it doesn't matter.
    • diblasio, on 07/16/2008, -3/+4Go to Africa and tell them that. I'm sure that everyone will do a facepalm, share a hardy chuckle, and then AIDS will be gone overnight.
      • salinemist, on 07/16/2008, -4/+4Ok, for Africa add "stop thinking that ***** virgins will cure AIDS".

        PEPFAR was working until inexplicably the Democrats took all of the money for AIDS treatment out of it.
      • KyleGoetz, on 07/16/2008, -3/+5@salinemist: Source, please. Last I checked, PEPFAR was doing poorly because the Republicans started banning any safe-sex education, opting for an almost exclusively abstinence-based program.

        That is why PEPFAR is failing to stop the spread of AIDS in Africa.
      • bagelmaster, on 07/16/2008, -2/+3You forgot this step: ***** Africa. They are not part of the USA, so ***** them. Our country needs to worry about its own citizens first THEN about the rest of world.
    • booksnmore4you, on 07/16/2008, -5/+2True, as far as it goes. Problem is, most infected women are victims of unfaithful men.
      • Strongo, on 07/16/2008, -0/+3take your ***** lifetime stories somewhere else. Guys get it from girls who are unfaithful just as much.
    • itsthebrod, on 07/16/2008, -1/+2Good advice, but it still does nothing for the babies born HIV positive since their mothers were also positive.
    • hurricanewane, on 07/16/2008, -1/+2What happens when there are no diseases to kill people?

      Will populations explode unchecked?
      Is overpopulation a real problem in undeveloped countries?

      Just asking...I think the fact there are too many people in some places causing starvation may be a bigger killer than disease. Are there any studies on this?

  • vexingmodstwo, on 07/16/2008, -6/+46Luckily, the vast majority of Diggers need not worry.
    • cusoman, on 07/16/2008, -7/+3What are you talking about? We ALL sit on toilet seats, and as everyone knows, it can be contracted that way as well.
      • breakdancecrew, on 07/16/2008, -3/+5HIV can only survive outside a body for about 30 seconds. Most people will wipe down the seat in a pubic stall before sitting, then place down toilet paper or one of those paper doughnut things. That easily surpasses 30 seconds by a major margin.
      • peterfnet, on 07/16/2008, -2/+4Pretty sure he was joking, breakdancer
      • nerdherder, on 07/16/2008, -3/+1Still isn't funny though, even if he is joking.
    • cusoman, on 07/16/2008, -1/+1Wow, you guys are pretty dense... you probably weren't even alive in the 80's to see the initial AIDS propaganda that said you could get it from public restrooms. That's what I was referring to. Guess I can't blame ya, kiddos.
  • fuhcough, on 07/16/2008, -16/+4Sadly HIV and AIDS will never ever be cured? Why? Because there is no incentive for pharmaceutical companies to try and cure it.

    Why? Because most of the world's population that IS infected doesn't have health insurance to PAY for the drug. Why spend millions upon millions to develop a cure that you can't sell?

    Simple economics. Harsh realities.
    • diblasio, on 07/16/2008, -4/+3OMG. You are the first person to ever say that. Thank you for opening my eyes with your fresh point of view.

      No, really. I didn't read any comments before yours on this article or on every article about AIDS saying the exact same thing. What a great point of view! What a clever person you must be to have thought that up on your own!

      Thanks for letting me know about the harsh realities of life! I also had no idea how supply and demand works, so thanks for that too. Got any big ideas about ethics in mainstream media? Or maybe corruption in the Government?
    • malcolmlo, on 07/16/2008, -0/+4Not necessarily true. There are other ways they could make a profit: government agencies purchasing vaccines, non-profits with large donation coffers purchasing vaccines, tax rebates for providing vaccines, etc. etc.
  • Rocco03, on 07/16/2008, -10/+5It seems every month there's a new 'breakthrough' on HIV that promises to be the key to cure AIDS. I'm just tired of it, show me a vaccine and I'll take my hat off.
  • silviumc, on 07/16/2008, -12/+3Hurray for the great American scientists.. wait.. an Indian, a Japanese and a French. Ok, at least hurray for the great American country that still attracts great brains from the rest of the world. If that stops you are soooo *****. So, don't screw up your country any more, if you know what's good for you.
    • duder83, on 07/16/2008, -0/+3wow, someone needs some grammar schooling.
    • KyleGoetz, on 07/16/2008, -1/+5Agreed. One of America's greatest strengths is our university system, which attracts the best and brightest researchers to come here. We need to keep it up, and make it easier for them to come here.

      Hopefully they'll like it and take US citizenship.
    • allatti2d, on 07/16/2008, -0/+4silviumc -

      Interesting that you saw "an Indian, a Japanese and a French." I saw scientists, possibly Americans, working at an American University. Do you think they are not Americans? (And btw, which one looked French to you? Which looked Indian to you?)

      What's your heritage? Do you know there is no "American" race? Do you know that America is comprised of every race?

      Sorry, too many questions for you, I'm sure. Go back to your cave now.
  • brettg102, on 07/16/2008, -12/+3...we need something to keep this population problem in check.
    • michael43, on 07/16/2008, -0/+7Why don't you contribute by taking yourself out?
    • wardy12, on 07/16/2008, -1/+0Something to keep this population under control? Is it really crowded where you live to the point where you want people to die?

      Population density of Singapore = 16,540.43 people per square mile.
      Population density of Monaco = 41,970.77 people per square mile

      If you took the entire Earth's population and forced them into 9 of the top 10 U.S states minus Alaska the population density would be 5474.20 people per square mile. Add the next 10 states on the list and the number drops to 3310.96 person per square mile.

      If you don't like the population where you live or you think it's getting out of control I have one suggestion....MOVE!
    • brettg102, on 07/16/2008, -0/+1Sarcasm is lost on you people...I'll use tags next time.
  • danj321, on 07/16/2008, -12/+5Nobody cares about HIV/AIDS anymore. It's all about the cancer now.
  • smnirven, on 07/16/2008, -6/+10Yeah, but the article fails to mention that the cure turns people to zombies AFTER it kills HIV. Guess it's time to stock up on shotgun rounds.
  • Andon, on 07/16/2008, -1/+3Didn't they just find the same weakness with the Ebola virus less than a week ago?
  • booksnmore4you, on 07/16/2008, -0/+5Wow. This is BIG folks, VERY promising, the most important discovery about HIV to date.
  • GordonClass, on 07/16/2008, -3/+3weakness and cure are two different things
    • theviceroy, on 07/16/2008, -0/+1that tend to go hand in hand... AIDS is pretty much the ultimate superbug,so finding a weakness like this one is ***** huge.
  • thetron, on 07/16/2008, -4/+2Does this mean we can goto africa now?
  • cplusplus, on 07/16/2008, -0/+9The article says Pathologists **Believe** They Have Pinpointed Achilles Heel Of HIV.
    And the headline on Digg says "Major Discovery". Doesn't seem so accurate to me.
    • theviceroy, on 07/16/2008, -0/+1Scientists in general make rather conservative announcements concerning their findings, mainly to cover their asses just in case it's a bogus finding. If further research confirms their study, then it is a major discovery. But ya know, "Tentatively Major Discovery Most Likely Found (but of course needs confirmation from other medical researchers)" isn't a very catchy headline.
    • mqduck, on 07/17/2008, -0/+0Yes, the *discovery* of what they *believe* to be HIV's Achilles heel is indeed *major*.
  • duder83, on 07/16/2008, -0/+3great article, I dugg it... but... if this was really a HUGE breakthrough wouldn't it be on major news sites? I'm not seeing it anywhere
  • 12916studios, on 07/16/2008, -3/+58My dad died from AIDs when I was two. He got HIV because through the blood transfusions he had needed. This was back in the late 80's before blood donations started being regulated...

    I really hope this is true. A cure for AIDs would mean people like myself wouldn't have to grow up without a father. I want that for them...so that they don't have to feel the loss that I constantly feel.
    • funkydunks, on 07/16/2008, -0/+10jesus man i'm sorry. that is horrible. I lost my sister. not to aids thought...cancer. it does suck.
      • 12916studios, on 07/16/2008, -0/+5Ah yes, cancer. That sucks a whole hell of a lot too. My girlfriend just lost her mother to it about 2 years ago. And now to make it worse, her sister is also terminally ill with cancer. I mean...she'll lose her two best friends within 3 years of each other to the same ***** sickness. Even with my dad being dead and all I still have a hard time comprehending what she is going through.
    • Radica1Faith, on 07/16/2008, -0/+5A blood transfusion? Such a needless death. I can't imagine what you must feel.
    • TheGhostMan, on 07/16/2008, -14/+2***** fathers
    • Haoie, on 07/17/2008, -0/+1Yes, this could really mean something to future generations [because a cure is still a long way off].
  • JibberGeorge, on 07/16/2008, -11/+4ONE SMALL STEP FOR MAN.... ONE GIANT LEAP FOR UNPROTECTED ANAL!
  • emdanan, on 07/16/2008, -0/+11True, there are many breakthrough lately in the world of HIV treatment, but do not forget 2 things:
    1) Most of those breakthroughs are about ways of CONTROLLING HIV and preventing it from spreading. This one is about destroying it altogether.

    2)All the breakthroughs you've heard of haven't been buried or forgotten, it just takes a lot of time to receive permission to commercially propagate a drug. The different stages of testing (designed for the public's safety) take a few years... be patient.

    This, anyway, is WONDERFUL NEWS! :-)
  • ElGanyan, on 07/16/2008, -0/+10Digg needs a "Cure for HIV/Cancer" section!
    • ATLien74, on 07/16/2008, -0/+12It pretty much goes in the "Legalize Weed" section.
  • charlief, on 07/16/2008, -5/+6HIV.. wow that's so retro
  • StrawberryFrog, on 07/16/2008, -0/+8Dugg because the article is actually detailed and technical, yet readable and I learned stuff from it.
  • orchidee2, on 07/16/2008, -1/+2If this is true, there will be hope for millions!
  • eastcoastwilly, on 07/16/2008, -3/+2In 1991 doctors from the Albert Einstein School of medicine did this using small micro-currents of electricity. They have about a dozen patents to do it many different ways.

    This US Patent (#5188738) was applied for in 1991 and was issued in 1993. How you can get a patent for a "Cure All" for every bacterial, virus, parasite or fungal infestation and virtually nobody knows anything about it ?


    "the present invention has been devised to attenuate any bacteria, virus
    (including the AIDS HIV virus) parasites and/or fungus contained in blood
    contributed by a donor to the point that any such contaminant is rendered
    ineffective for infecting a normally healthy human cell, but does not make
    the blood biologically unfit for use in humans. Similar problems exist
    with respect to treatment of other body fluids, such as amniotic fluids.
    The treatment method and system is also applicable to mammals other than
    humans."

    http://www.patentstorm.us/patents/5188738/descript ...

    This patent was removed from the ustpo.org site sometime in the last year.

    I am sick of this ***** ***** :(
    • kevman459, on 07/16/2008, -0/+1Just because you apply for and receive a patent doesn't meant the ***** works. Now if the FDA approved it that's different.

      Desperate people will try anything once "just in case" that's what these kind of people prey on.
    • person425, on 07/17/2008, -0/+1duude.. this is a method for sterilize blood before a transfusion by shocking the hell out of it. The shock is just weak enough not to destroy the blood cells, but it would probably be fatal if tried on a living person (we have that pesky nervous system to deal with). By the way, I am saying this without any professional medical background, or even reading the links you posted, but reading the quote you posted, it seems like a pretty clear concept.
  • Hypomanic, on 07/16/2008, -0/+1Hah, and a few days ago Roche suspended all of their HIV research because they felt there was no progress. I bet they feel stupid.
  • tkhan456, on 07/16/2008, -0/+5This freaking awesome! However, the guy who figured this out (the indian guy on the left in the picture) is a terrible terrible teacher! hahaha. He thought my class a few times last year and man he sucks. But apparently he's a good researcher so kudos to him!
    • willyummy69, on 07/16/2008, -1/+5Apparently he hasn't "thought" you very well.
  • the1danimal, on 07/16/2008, -1/+1wtfff, sciencedaily.com never loads for me.
  • Coinspinner, on 07/16/2008, -7/+4Thank God the cure didn't turn out to be weed, or we never would have heard about it.
    Just like when marijuana was shown to cure cancer on 18 August, 1974 at the Medical College of Virginia in a government-funded, peer-reviewed, reproducible study.
  • malcolmlo, on 07/16/2008, -7/+2Lol i love all the people saying "Whatever, that protien g12 83 69 is not going to work" like theyve tried it already or are some biologist PHD with a nobel peace prize.

    Gotta love the diggers who think they know every godamn thing because they know how hto use wikipedia and google.
    • AyaJulia, on 07/16/2008, -0/+3Protip #1: the Nobel Peace Prize is for peace, not science. I know, I know, it's shocking, isn't it?
      Protip #2: acting like you're better than a site's entire regular userbase isn't exactly going to win you any popularity contests.
    • Ch3mn3rd, on 07/22/2008, -0/+0That argument might have been viable if you decided to use proper english.
      As for "diggers who think they know every godamn thing because they know how hto use wikipedia and google.", you sound like one yourself.
  • MCShortbus, on 07/16/2008, -2/+0Pool no longer closed due to teh AIDS
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