HIV-1
sa smith | August 24, 2011Long-time readers of SciBlogs might remember the physicians and nurses working in Libya in the late 1990s, who were accused of purposefully infecting children with HIV-1, the "Tripoli 6".
Science established that they were innocent.
Basic logic established they were innocent (not only was there no motive for intentionally infecting children, or precedent with past behaviors, but unintentional infections due to improper sanitation in hospitals is a stock-standard thing we have to deal with in HIV World, even in a time as modern as the 1990s).
But the Libyan government did not want to own up…
sa smith | August 23, 2011I have some surprising news for my homosexual ERV readers: In the state of Florida, youre all virgins!
The judges found that because the law referenced 'sexual intercourse' that it could only be applied to heterosexual activity since intercourse is only defined as "the penetration of the female sex organ by the male sex organ."
Why the hell am I writing about this? Some stupid backwater judge or politician trying to regulate sex? Nope...
Because the wording of this law is being used to overturn convictions of individuals who did not disclose their HIV+ status to their sexual partners:
An…
sa smith | July 29, 2011Just in case you missed it on Sunday, you can now download/stream my talk on HIV-1 with Skeptically Speaking!
#122 HIV and AIDS
BONUS: This recording includes a chat with Dr. Peter Leone on HPV too!
sa smith | July 27, 2011This has been out for some time, but I was just linked to it by my Facebook friend, Brian-- a really cool model of HIV-1, inside and out, based off of "more then 100 latest scientific publications in the fields of virology, X-ray analysis and NMR spectroscopy. The depicted spatial configurations of 17 different viral and cellular proteins found in HIV particle are in strict accordance with known 3D-structures."
This isnt just an 'artistic rendition'-- its an artistic rendition founded on the best science to date ;)
Human Immunodeficiency Virus model
Now, if that image doesnt mean a whole…
sa smith | July 21, 2011I suck! Desiree Schelle has been trying to get me on Skeptically Speaking since, like, last December, and I keep getting busy and putting it off and then I was like "GHA I SUCK NAME A DATE!"
So Im going to be on her show this Sunday to talk about HIV-1!
We record live with Abbie Smith on Sunday, July 24 at 6 pm MT. The podcast will be available to download at 9 pm MT on Friday, July 29.
And theeeen, after some scheduling rearrangements, Im actually going to get to speak July 30th at the inaugural conference for Oklahoma skeptics and freethinkers, FreeOK! Its $10 for a day of speakers:
AND…
sa smith | July 12, 2011Despite his apparent random and brief moments of lucidity, I cant say Im a 'big fan' of Oklahoma senator and physician Tom Coburn (click here to read his completely insane 'analysis' of HIV/AIDS). He says hes 'PRO-LIFE' yet he held up funds for HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention in Africa because some of the organizations that would receive this funding offer family planning services which include abortion services.
Killing 'babies' while they are unfeeling, unthinking barely multicellular organisms: BAD!
Killing very real, very thinking, very feeling babies via long, painful deaths via AIDS…
sa smith | July 7, 2011I have written quite a bit about Cytotoxic-T-Cell-based HIV-1 vaccines here on ERV. Though antibodies can target HIV-1 viruses, and HIV-1 infected cells, CTLs should be the go-to workhorses for killing HIV-1 infected cells.
Pimped-up Souped-up Bionic Assassin Lethal Weapon Killer T-Cells as a cure for AIDS?
HIV-1 CTL Vaccine: OH SHI-
HIV-1 Vaccine: Again, OH SHI-
HIV-1 CTL Vaccine: lol, we are screwed.
HIV-1: Humans are all pink on the inside. Pink, and CD4+ T-cells.
Found another one:
HIV-1 CTL Vaccine: $%@#!
Because HIV-1 is a virus, it uses all of the host cells machinery to produce…
sa smith | July 6, 2011Nef.
The bane of my existence for some time now.
I dont talk much about my research here, but its safe to say I consider myself an inventor who works in virology. People say "Damn. Its so hard to do ___. I wish there was an easier way..." and Im like "... I can do that."
Gimme a plasmid, a primer (just need one), a paperclip, and a package of 'Fruit Stripe' gum, and I can make your retroviral dreams come true.
I make stuff, and then pass it off to other people to like, do research with it.
So I made myself a couple new toys. I then have to characterize my toys so other researchers know how…
sa smith | June 6, 2011Ive gotten over 9,000 emails on this guy:
First man 'functionally cured' of HIV
Doctors claim to have "functional cure" for HIV
The Berlin Patient, first reports of an AIDS Cure
Special Report - An end to AIDS?
This is the same guy Ive written about a couple times before. Its real great for him, immahappyforhim. But this is a really rare thing under really rare circumstances with a not-likely outcome. Dude is lucky, in innumerable ways. Everyone isnt and would not be that lucky. We cannot go into a rural village in Zambia and cure everyone there of HIV/AIDS with bone marrow transplants…
sa smith | May 16, 2011Cytomegalovirus is one of those ubiquitous viruses. Pretty much everyone on Earth is infected with it, and if you arent, you probably will be at some point in your life.
Some scientists got the idea to use CMV as a gene delivery system for HIV-1-- 'Infecting' cells with 'HIV' without actually infecting cells with HIV, meaning 'CMV/HIV infected' cells express HIV proteins and train the immune system to respond to an HIV infection, in the absence of actual HIV.
Profound early control of highly pathogenic SIV by an effector memory T-cell vaccine
This vaccine trained macaques Cytotoxic T-cells…
sa smith | May 13, 2011CTL-based vaccines and HIV-1.
Ive written about them quite a few times here on ERV.
Quick recap-- All of your cells fly 'flags' that show circulating cytotoxic T-cells what proteins they are making. Normally, a virus-infected cell will put up virus/pirate 'flags', the T-cell will 'see' something is wrong, and convince the infected cell to commit suicide. This process is thwarted by HIV-1 numerous ways, so infected cells arent killed. Some people can 'see' the HIV-1 'pirate flags', so they (kind of) control HIV better, but HIV is evolving ways around this. As a whole, the HIV-1 population…
sa smith | April 25, 2011Its no secret that Im not a huge fan of the antibody hunter branch of the HIV-1 research world-- they search through thousands and thousands and thousands of B-cells looking for one or two that can perform a neat trick. They are brilliant people working really hard doing things that have limited application in the real world, and give us limited insight into the basics of HIV-1 virology, but boy howdy, theyve got a great PR department, and Science/Nature eat their publications up.
Identifying broadly neutralizing antibodies is 'neat', but those antibodies are of limited value. The people…
sa smith | April 18, 2011Remember this?
Never mind.
AIDS prevention pill study halted; no benefit seen
sa smith | April 12, 2011A couple weeks ago, Teh Discovery Institute held some kind of revival 'conference' at a local Evangelical church. The Usual Suspects were there-- Caseytits, West, some other guy, but also my HIV Evolution BFF Michael Behe. I ended up not being able to go due to a scheduling conflict. I was at a conference on HIV Evolution, which as we all know, according to the worlds most preeminent HIV researcher Michael Behe, doesnt exist.
So Ive been Googling around trying to get a recap of what went down.
Apparently, nothing.
As the kids say, "not a single fuck was given that day".
Not one blog post…
sa smith | March 3, 2011Scientific conferences are so cool :-D
It s bunch of really smart people getting together to pow-wow about a common interest, sharing their newest data, brainstorming new ideas, trouble-shooting, arguing, finding new collaborators-- its just so friggen cool :-D
Unfortunately, us smaller labs can only budget for one/a couple of these a year, so I am missing out on the 2011 Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections :( Its also kind of a downer that Average Joes/Janes arent really allowed to come, not that most people could take a week off work to attend anyway.
Lucky for us…
sa smith | February 14, 2011While practicality is one of the tools in my arsenal against anti-science advocates, its not my favorite. Maybe its because I am a delicate female with doe-eyes and sweet sensitivities, but my favorite weapon is emotion.
I tell you what, its damn hard to talk to the general public (much less wooers) about the intricacies of genetics and retroviruses, its hard to explain the practicality of evolution in my research, but its real damn easy to give examples of that practicality that tugs on peoples heart-strings. Whether its your moms breast cancer, or your grandpas MS, I can give people a…
sa smith | February 10, 2011So I was just alerted by a reader that the Montreal Gazette just published a rebuttal to the HIV Denial POS they published a few days ago.
Dr. Norbert Gilmore takes an angle I like: Practicality.
We deal with it all the time with wooers-- its easy for HIV Deniers or Creationists or anti-vaxers to say something stupid, but its infinitely more time consuming for scientists to respond to the falsehoods.
An easy short-cut for us is practicality.
I use it when dealing with Creationists, specifically. "Fine. Lets grant the premise that everything scientists say about evolution is a lie. Why does…
sa smith | February 7, 2011HIV(+) status and sports is a big deal.
Any time there is a non-negligible risk of a bloody nose (golf or swimming vs soccer or basketball), there is a risk someone is going to get a blood droplet in the eye. Another player, a ref, a coach, a spectator, a beer vendor-- yes, the odds might be fantastic, but whatever the risks are, they arent worth it for entertainment.
Kudos to *most* state boxing commissions for recognizing that HIV status is a very, very big deal in their sport, thus require HIV tests before fights. And, if a boxer fails a test, they dont go all "DUDES GOT AIDS!", they…
sa smith | January 31, 2011There are lots of ways a scientific paper can make me laugh.
Sometimes I lol because the research is just so goddamn stupid.
Sometimes I lol in derision.
And rarely, I lol when someone does something conceptually simple, but incredibly clever, and it makes me happy. I read an abstract, laugh, read the rest of the paper, laugh, clap, and laugh. Clever people make me happy :)
This is a really clever paper:
Acquisition of HIV-1 Resistance in T Lymphocytes Using an ACA-Specific E. coli mRNA Interferase
A while back, I talked about a cell line I use in the lab called 'TZM-bl'. These cells…
sa smith | January 28, 2011An interesting paper on HIV-1 prevention came out while I was on my Grand Adventure:
Preexposure Chemoprophylaxis for HIV Prevention in Men Who Have Sex with Men
Quick summary: They used an antiretroviral, Truvada, as a prophylactic drug. That is, you take this antiretroviral every day in the hopes of preventing infection as opposed to taking the drug to control infection.
Basically, its The Pill... for HIV-1 infection instead of pregnancy.
And it actually kinda worked!
People who took the drug as instructed, had a 92% lower chance of becoming infected than placebo.
YAY!
... Yeah, no, read…