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New gene technique 'stops HIV in its tracks'

independent.co.uk — HIV can be stopped dead in its tracks using a revolutionary technique for "silencing" genes, a study has shown.

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  • philostrato, on 08/08/2008, -3/+27that's great news!
    • JBmtk, on 08/08/2008, -9/+1but no one will see this become mainstream because tons of business are solely based on the effects of cancer.
      • Godlike, on 08/08/2008, -2/+1Dude its the HIV not the rot. Same idea tho.
    • musikmann, on 08/08/2008, -0/+6Don't get your hopes up...HIV has already been shown to aquire resistance to this type of treatment in cell lines
      • kd1s, on 08/08/2008, -0/+5There's a lot of progress being made in identifying the weaknesses of the virus. This is good news no matter what because every bit of information we glean into the workings of this virus, we arm ourselves with better treatment options.

        Granted, nothing beats safe sex for decreasing the transmission of most STD's but many people are ill informed about the effectiveness of condoms for helping prevent the spread of things like HIV, Herpes, Syphilis et al.

        Much of that is thanks to the Christian Right attitudes that think abstinence actually works. It doesn't. And I've seen evidence from those abstinence classes where the effectiveness of condoms is challenged. So what do kids who've been so misled do? They have sex without protection.

        We're failing the young adults of this country by our failure to educate them properly when it comes to their own bodies.
      • oscenester, on 08/08/2008, -0/+3Of course it has. HIV and Cancer are multi-billion dollar business.

        Guarantee this gets "dis-proven" shortly...
    • davidkeithjones, on 08/08/2008, -3/+7Another day another HIV cure.
  • aksn1p3r, on 08/08/2008, -5/+15RNA altering may work for humans, but they still dont know
  • rsuri2, on 08/08/2008, -0/+246"Further animal studies, however, are needed before the approach can be used on humans in clinical trials."

    Is it me or is there cure for every disease on this planet if you are a mouse?
    • Ravatar, on 08/08/2008, -13/+7Pretty much, unfortunately there are no laws against infecting mice with that same disease.

      So yea it's a double-edged sword.
    • SlewDigger, on 08/08/2008, -0/+45Well they are vast, hyper-intelligent pan-dimensional beings.
    • atchon, on 08/08/2008, -1/+5Mice are far more simple. Which has its benefits and its problems, it is easy to find things in mice and treat them it is hard to go from mouse to human. Also due to the low volume of blood sometimes it is possible to give small concentrations of drugs to mice which work, but when you go to primates or humans the same small concentration is lethal.
      • Godlike, on 08/08/2008, -1/+6Mice are far more simple to justify the death of.

        Not that I'm a furry or anything, just sayin'.
      • AlekNovi, on 08/08/2008, -0/+6"but when you go to primates or humans the same small concentration is lethal. " - yeah that's the main reason. Most of these drugs they find working in mice, its not that they don't work in humans, its that the effective dose is so great its impractical or deadly.
    • naner, on 08/08/2008, -1/+24I know at least three people infected with HIV who would GLADLY accept the risks in order to be guinea pigs for this treatment in human beings. They're already resigned to death and if their death can help save countless others, they're all for it.
      • LlamaKing, on 08/08/2008, -23/+3***** you three of my friends died trying to save other people.
      • Erik1, on 08/08/2008, -0/+7^ Not cool.
      • paulzy, on 08/08/2008, -0/+1I agree 100%. The problem is people are so afraid of getting sued into oblivion nothing gets done anymore until everyone is "sure".
    • Lythium, on 08/08/2008, -0/+9All joking aside, it's because lab mice and rats have been deliberately bred for genetic uniformity - it makes it much easier to get consistent results. Biology is messy as hell, and has an incredible number of factors which can interfere with testing, so using known strains helps to eliminate a boatload of variables.

      I don't remember where I read it (it must have been one of these "cancer-cure-of-the-week" articles), but it's been said that if scientists can't make a given cure work for well over 90% of the test animals, it's not worth pursuing at all for humans. That's one of the many reasons that these "BREAKING: MIRACLE CURE!!!!!!" articles are uniformly sensationalist.
      • Ravatar, on 08/08/2008, -1/+1This is pretty interesting. Wouldn't this be an ideal use for cloning, anyway?
    • neotrantor, on 08/08/2008, -0/+4i've been saying the same thing

      what don't mice have to worry about?

      cancer
      hiv
      baldness
      colds

      what else am i missing?
    • Buzzpatrol, on 08/08/2008, -1/+2Yeah, but it also comes with a very small Penis so I think were even..
    • Mohdoo, on 08/08/2008, -1/+1What need to focus on is what about mice makes them able to do that and see how we can get that on humans =D

      Maybe something like VMWARE running mice on humans :D
    • norm7, on 08/08/2008, -0/+3no cure for a mouse trap
  • Hockey13, on 08/08/2008, -1/+35Here's a more in-depth article from Scientific American:

    http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=researchers-si ...

    This does, indeed, seem to be great news.
  • AmyVernon, on 08/08/2008, -1/+9Wow. If this works as it seems to promise, it could be revolutionary and amazing.
  • synystar, on 08/08/2008, -1/+24I forget who I'm paraphrasing but our descendants may one day see the headline: "Scientists Discover the Source of Most Modern Diseases - Laboratory Mice!"
    • alexidigg, on 08/08/2008, -0/+1"The mice Shankar used, however, were engineered to be more like humans..."

      pic please!!?
  • louiebaur, on 08/08/2008, -7/+8Wow that is great news for the submitter of this post!
  • Villagemom, on 08/08/2008, -1/+13I only hope it does not cause another problem while fixing this one.
    • LiquidLeopard, on 08/08/2008, -1/+3for some reason i just got reminded of I am Legend by your post.
    • mttyd, on 08/08/2008, -1/+2Oh no it's the T virus
    • clsslc, on 08/08/2008, -1/+1Yeah, I mean, curing a patient's HIV and giving him something less deadly in its stead would be horrible.
  • Michaelabehsera, on 08/08/2008, -1/+6wow that is amazing long live science
  • ZurMacht, on 08/08/2008, -4/+23Honestly I am tired of hearing about huge breakthroughs when it comes to finding a cure for HIV/AIDS... I rather see these breakthroughs put into use and application to start actually helping people.
    • atchon, on 08/08/2008, -0/+7They need funding a good way to get funding is to trumpet your progress and hope people throw money at you. Also a lot of this is picked up from science journals by the media even though the scientists are just trying to share their findings with other scientists.
    • allengeer, on 08/08/2008, -0/+5I'm pretty sure all these breakthroughs are the reason why Magic Johnson is still alive. Remember a while back, you got HIV, you died in 10 years. Science had no idea what it was or how it worked or how to stop it. You fast forward 25 years and you see a much less intimidating disease in terms of lack of knowledge and ability to hinder its terminal prognosis.
  • nickycakes, on 08/08/2008, -5/+54Probably the 10th aids cure i've seen announced on digg. Let us know when theres something that's actually saving people's lives please.
    • arjie, on 08/08/2008, -0/+4Well, if you're really lucky you can be quite resistant to HIV-1. I was at work reading on tuberculosis some time back when I came across this little gene- CCR5 delta 32. Here you go: http://www.physorg.com/news3333.html

      Hopefully you're descended from those Europeans :)
      • chenboda, on 08/08/2008, -0/+0Re. CCR5 delta 32. It's a nice thought, but I wouldn't bet my life on it, nor my quality of life. I'm willing to bet there are a lot of people out there partying like it's 1979 who choose to think they're immune. Well, good luck with that.

        In addition to that gene and its story, there are also large regions of Africa where, all other things being equal, people seem to get HIV/AIDS a lot less than other regions. Can't be coincidence, the differing percents are too high. I don't think CCR5 delta 32 has been linked to that, must be something else.

        The problem with this kind of information, which can be really interesting, is that crackpot theorists such as the AIDS deniers immediately jump on it and come up with crackpot theories, as it is their nature to do so. Which may also be genetic, who knows. Caveat lechtor.
      • arjie, on 08/09/2008, -0/+1chen: I'm interested in these studies which show that. Could you link me to them? Was the difference statistically significant?
    • DSizzle, on 08/08/2008, -0/+4Its 150,000 dollars cash injected directly in to your bloodstream.
  • mingleTwat, on 08/08/2008, -1/+12i want to believe
    • diablo2032, on 08/08/2008, -10/+1I know this is off topic, but I just want to say: That new x-files movie was horrible, the worst movie I've ever seen."

      ok thats it: This is GREAT news, I hope the treatment isnt too expensive if it works.
  • emdanan, on 08/08/2008, -6/+1I wonder if all these wonderful cures we hear about are just taking the normal time to make sure we don't make another AZT mistake/crime, or are they taking longer because some companies are paying a lot... After all, AIDS has become a very fruitful business for pharma' companies and the condom industry.
    • ScrewedThePooch, on 08/08/2008, -0/+2Screw big pharma. I don't care if we take money away from them. People would theoretically still be using condoms, because Herpes, Syphilis, and Gonorrhea aren't too great, either. Also, that "not getting pregnant at seventeen" thing is a good incentive too.
  • Nintendesert, on 08/08/2008, -2/+31Again?
  • AbelVoicu, on 08/08/2008, -1/+1These things take time, you wouldn't want the most recent breakthrough in mice causing weird side effects in humans. This is still significant because it means we are inching closer and closer to a cure everyday. These are the developmental steps pointing to a future free of diseases like HIV/AIDS and cancer.
  • adougy, on 08/08/2008, -3/+13our weekly cure for HIV/cancer is here, finally.
    see you all next week!
  • brainscab, on 08/08/2008, -0/+2I want you all to know that 3 stories down from this on cancer just mutated into an airborne disease...
    +1 Aids cure -1 airborne cancer...
    Planet digg is a ***** up alternate reality.
  • sh0k, on 08/08/2008, -1/+12By jove, they've done it!

    Again!
  • ppktechno, on 08/08/2008, -2/+3It's from independent.co.uk, so it's not a joke...
  • vectorlord, on 08/08/2008, -1/+0There is a lot of work needed before anything like this will be a treatment. First is proper delivery of interfering RNA effectively. Second is the long term studies needed to show this would work over decades of latent HIV infection. Third is the many other tangibles that comes from, future research, ethics and politics.
  • govsucks, on 08/08/2008, -4/+2Fantastic news. Some people say that god cursed gay people with Aids...well Uh Oh, science just un-cursed them. I keep looking up but I don't see any brimstone falling!?
  • whoreable, on 08/08/2008, -0/+1So they finally hacked the vending machine for that plasmid?
  • drnorris, on 08/08/2008, -1/+7this is the 5th HIV cure I have read this month. We are close to a breakthrough folks.
  • xyllar, on 08/08/2008, -0/+1Sounds promising maybe, but what's the story behind the picture of the protestors? My spanish isn't good enough to read the sign. What exactly are they protesting? Did they request the new treatment and get denied or something? The article doesn't really seem to mention anything relating to this.
    • ParanoydAndroid, on 08/08/2008, -0/+4The sign in the back says, "murio por faltar Kaletra" which means, "death for lack of Kaletra." I'm assuming, given the fake kaletra box in the person's hand up front in the picture, that Kaletra is some sort of AIDS/HIV treatment, and they're protesting that people are dying and unable to get (or afford) this treatment.
  • iamthearm, on 08/08/2008, -2/+0Blah blah blah blah..........
  • vilago, on 08/08/2008, -4/+2it's not just sexually transmitted. if you somehow come in contact with enough blood or saliva then you contract it. i say come up with a cure, give it to africa and see what happens.
    • ProfessorRiffs, on 08/08/2008, -0/+3It would take ingesting basically an ocean's worth of saliva from an infected person to contract HIV. Maybe the girls you date are more of the "sloppy kisser" type, I dunno...........
  • lebatte, on 08/08/2008, -1/+4What is this, like the fifth time someone has cured HIV on Digg? Let me know when these methods actually going to start saving people's lives.
  • vladthedecker, on 08/08/2008, -0/+3If getting RNA interference to work in humans was an easy feat we would be able to cure many diseases. Unfortunately there isn't a good way to deliver RNAi. It would likely require some form of viral vector (like gene therapy) and those have not been very successful in human trials. I'm not saying that this isn't possible at some point down the line but it isn't feasible yet.
  • habenneas, on 08/08/2008, -0/+1I read that as 'new game technique'. I gotta get out more...
    • stealingfrom, on 08/08/2008, -0/+2The utility of the barrel roll continues to grow!
  • protodon, on 08/08/2008, -3/+5yay unprotected sex for everyone!
    • DigitusAnonymus, on 08/08/2008, -0/+4Are you lost? This is Digg my friend.
    • irishjays, on 08/08/2008, -0/+3Do they have a cure for babies yet?
    • allengeer, on 08/08/2008, -1/+3Do they have a cure for herpes, hpv, syphillis, hep A,B,C, etc?
  • Strongo, on 08/08/2008, -1/+3HIV was cured every week for the past 15 weeks on DIGG, find a new problem.
  • PSotter, on 08/08/2008, -1/+2RNA interference works great if you are a worm, or a plant! Humans? Not so much. Once again, the media does another surface-skipping story aimed at grabbing attention (and $$$) to boost readership, but does very little justice to what is actually very elegant science.
    • WallyAnti, on 08/08/2008, -0/+1I don't see why scientists and the media are doing something bad by trying to get attention and funding. I believe this is pretty much the way it's done.
  • Notravelnate, on 08/08/2008, -1/+0It is very possible that this could work in humans. There are certain mRNA strands that are key codes for "shutting down" replication. Just unlock those and find a way to make the infected cells to produce this naturally and it should work like a charm.... however, easier said than done.
  • Notravelnate, on 08/08/2008, -2/+1P.S. Lets hope this doesn't turn out like "I am Legend" :-P

    Although that was based upon a cure for cancer........
  • RationalXubrnce, on 08/08/2008, -0/+1 I'll keep my fingers crossed but I'll be shocked to see this working out in the real world. Read back as far as you like about miracle cancer and HIV cures and treatments and a common theme will emerge: after reading the amazing article you'll never hear about it again.
  • cgruber, on 08/08/2008, -0/+3I've had the cure for AIDS for a while, it's Gypsie tears. Just don't sleep with one, coz that will give you AIDS. Oh and you'll smell like horse hooves and bacon. *sad face* Incidentatlly the two aren't mutually exclusive.
  • dildoolielly, on 08/08/2008, -1/+4Dear Pope,

    Thank you so much for your misguided, uneducated, ignorant, intolerant, self-righteous, psychotic and all out arrogant concern!

    Signed,

    -an African baby dying of AIDS

    http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/08/opinion/08kristo ...
  • SilverBlade2k, on 08/08/2008, -2/+3How much do ya wanna bet that Big Pharma will grab this patent and bury it?
    • KMyHero, on 08/08/2008, -1/+2Yeah, totally, bro! Like, groovy and stuff! Pass the bong.

      I forgot that people that work for pharmaceutical companies don't have relatives or friends with HIV/AIDs and cancer. Nope, they're immune to all that and only care about making money.
  • oriondr, on 08/08/2008, -0/+2This can only end one way...

    http://media.collegepublisher.com/media/paper854/s ...
  • trollick, on 08/08/2008, -0/+1Buried as inaccurate. HIV does not have tracks.
  • nkleffman, on 08/08/2008, -1/+1Emerging Viruses: AIDS And Ebola : Nature, Accident or Intentional?

    http://www.amazon.com/Emerging-Viruses-Nature-Acci ...
  • JDwithCurls, on 08/08/2008, -0/+1It's about time! Why does it feel like they may have known this for years? Oh yea, money's in the medicine, not the cure, I forgot.
    • Typhoon2009, on 08/08/2008, -0/+1To be fair, it costs an exorbitant amount to research and develop these medications. I have to say though: thank god/allah/buddha/***** that my family has medical insurance. I'm taking accutane right now. When I got my first set of pills, I noticed on the pharmacy receipt (where all the info of the drug is printed) that it costs about $500. Our co-pay was 5 bucks.
    • KMyHero, on 08/08/2008, -0/+1Yeah man, I totally love going in every week for those polio treatments.
  • Typhoon2009, on 08/08/2008, -0/+1SCIENCE!
  • tectonix, on 08/08/2008, -0/+1#48735 on my list on known cures to aids according to digg
  • TheCosmicFool, on 08/08/2008, -0/+3Good news! Madagascar just opened it's ports!
    • sMMk, on 08/08/2008, -1/+0Sadly, they closed the ports as soon as they heard someone was coughing in Brazil.
  • tcpip4lyfe, on 08/08/2008, -0/+4Buried as inaccurate. Everyone knows that the only cure for aids is about $180,000 shot directly into the bloodstream.
  • dunezone, on 08/08/2008, -2/+1What you have to understand, these are possible cures. Back in 1932 or 33 when Ian Fleming was doing his work with bacteria and mold he came across the mysterious occurrence of the the mold fighting off the bacteria. He wrote about and it wasn't until about ten years later it resurfaced when two other people started looking closely at his work. And that's when the first person, a man who had a terrible infection was given anti-biotics, they figured he was going to die anyway so they started deploying anti-biotics into his system. The man started to recover but they lacked enough penicillin to save him. This is what we are figuring out with viruses, we cant cure them yet but were slowly figuring out a way to defeat them. So when something is announced today, we wont know for many years until it actually works in human studies which take years to perform.
    • BionicWhippet, on 08/08/2008, -0/+3Ian Fleming is the author of the James Bond novels. The discoverer of penicillin was Alexander Fleming.
  • KDX200rider, on 08/08/2008, -0/+1I wish the title of articles like this would be more specific, it seems we see article like this about some great new discovery that will cure cancer or HIV, only to read on and realize the story is quite different from the truth.
  • mcse2k3, on 08/08/2008, -0/+1That's great and all, but this is like the 10th time I've read about some form of cure for HIV. You hear about it once, and then never again.

    Once they cure it, people will start having more and more unprotected sex and end up with another ridiculous funk that can't be cured!
  • AntonMp, on 08/08/2008, -0/+0One step closer towards global over-population ^^
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