Hello werwin,
When I read 'The Malaria Capers' by Robert S. Desowitz, a public-health epidemiologist, back in the 90s, I was amazed to discover that the many failures to produce a malaria vaccine had made many public-health bureaucrats hostile to any researcher trying to develop a malaria vaccine. But live and learn. It seems to be a part of basic human nature that some people will turn against hope after some disappointments. (Not Robert S. Desowitz, however. It is just another obstacle to face and overcome.)

Reading 'Shots in the Dark: The Wayward Search for an AIDS Vaccine', 2001, by Jon Cohen, I came across this same phenomenon. I hope that we will develop a cure for HIV this generation. I only hope - - I do not predict it. But there will be a number of people who will gloomily predict that we are helpless and cannot do it.

Don't give up hope!
Lawrence

Here is my understanding.

I doubt a totally effective cure will ever been found. A virus becomes very integrated into the human body and DNA. They express a 'glycoprotein' coating that effectively hides the virus from proper detection. The AIDS virus acquires this coating when it bursts through the cell wall taking part of the cell wall as it's outer protective coating. Viruses can effectively smell like the rest of the body.

They, also express chemicals designed to shutdown certain immune system responses via the CYTOKINES. A strong cytokine response is necessary to effectively attack foreign pathogens, especially viruses like HIV. Some therapies have tried to exploit the cytokines response in total failure. The clinical trial of TGN1412 illicited a 'cytokine storm' which I believe resulted in some gruesome deaths in cancer patients.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cytokine


Maybe, one day they will find that viruses resonant or depend on a certain frequency. Using a type of sound technology we could effectively destroy them using that resonant frequency.

That sounds like science fiction, but it's a relatively recent discovery. I don't have the exact article, but it was on www.sciencedaily.com

In short viruses use a dozen bag of tricks to survive and avoid an effective immune system response. The best bet for now is to just help crunch for better drugs.

Hi Larry,

I agree wholeheartedly. The science that helps us understand diseases and develop new cures and preventions has come a very, very long way in the past 100 years.

I can't wait to find out what new discoveries will occur in the next few decades!

Best wishes,
Dr. Alex Perryman

Thanks Dr. Perryman. From what I have seen in the history of medical developments, it takes decades of painstaking research to gain a working understanding of biological processes. With AIDS much work at the atomic level is needed to unravel and defeat all of its "bags of tricks." I think with the recent increases in desktop computing power (2 and 4 core processors and higher core processors soon to be available) and the increased accuracy of computer models were are poised on the edge of making important breakthroughs in fighting deseases. 10 years might be too soon for a major breakthrough but in 20 or 30 years major deveopments could happen based on what is being done today.

Larry Fine

Hi rbolo,

RNAi has worked well in the test tube, but it is extremely difficult to deliver the RNA into an actual cell. The RNA or RNA analogs used for RNAi are extremely highly-charged. Compounds generally have to be fairly hydrophobic (that is, greasy) to be able to get inside a cell. But compounds generally have to be water soluble, as well. The combination of these two competing characteristics means that drugs need to have a very careful balance between their level of greasiness, their size, and the number and 3-D location of positively and negatively-charged atoms. Many scientists in both academia and industry are working on the issues of drug delivery in general and on delivering RNAi, specifically.

Well, scientists have cracked open and exploited some viruses and bacteria for useful purposes, but there's still a lot of work to be done and a lot of discoveries that still need to be made. For a few examples off the top of my head, genetically-engineered bacteria are used to produce copies of most of the different proteins that are studied in labs. They have also been cracked and tricked into producing the insulin that is used to treat people with diabetes. Studies of the Rous Sarcoma Virus by Peyton Rous at Rockefeller University in 1916 laid the foundation for our current understanding of oncogenesis (the generation of cancerous cells from healthy cells). 50 years later, he earned the Nobel prize for that research. (Science can be slow, and recognition of the importance of some discoveries often takes decades). In gene therapy research, different viruses are being de-armed and hollowed out, so that they can be used as the potential vehicles for delivering genes that are either mutated or turned off. And a month or two ago, I read a Press Release on yahoo news about some scientists in academia (I think it was Penn State) who re-engineered a bacteria and a special catalyst to produce hydrogen. They called it a "microbial fuel cell." I was extremely impressed! Discoveries about bacteria and viruses have already had tremendous impacts on industry and on human health. And we still have a lot to learn.

Best wishes,
Dr. Alex Perryman