Do you think we'll find a cure for AIDS?

[Anonymous]

Do you think that we will ever find a cure for aids or maybe completely get rid of it around the world like smallpox? I know it's an epidemic right now and it seems a little far fetched at the moment...but what do you think? Will we ever get rid of this horrible thing?

[Anonymous]

Technically, there's already a cure. MIT scientists have developed a new technology that allows them to target and kill cells that are infected with viruses. Any virus, from the common cold to AIDS, could potentially eliminated. So far, it's been extremely effective in trials on mice and human tissue.

The way it works is by identifying and targeting cells with double-strand RNA, which do not normally exist in humans and animals, but are created when a virus infects a cell.

However, the problem is that they don't yet know how to get the technology to target ~specific~ viruses. Pharmaceutical companies want to sell a cheap version that kills common viruses like the cold and influenza, and really expensive versions that kill things like AIDS or polio.

Just releasing a kill-all-viruses pill wouldn't be profitable enough, you see, so until they figure out how to do that, people will continue to suffer and die. Could take years before they discover if if it's even possible.

link

[Opinion Owner]

Also, here's a link to the project's page on MIT's website.

[Colt40]

I had an uncle that worked as a bio medical scientist for the the pentagon for chemical warfare. He told me in the 70's that they egineered the AIDS virus as a key component in chemical warfare. But after they ran trials on a few test subjects , they discovered it was too slow acting. Therefore they dismissed it from biological warfare, and every since then the virus has spread phenomenally and he believes its actually being used as population control today. He said there is a cure but unless your Oprah you can't afford it.

[Anonymous]

Um, well if everyone thought like me it would be, I pick my sexual partners in a certain way (ive only had 2) and you can kind of tell whos serious about you to. All my partners must get checked for everything, virgins or not I don't care get checked anyways, If I have any reason to believe they are cheating at all (not the same amount of attention, they bail on date nights etc.) I'm done with them, so basically I'm not having sex unless that guy is clean and I know it. Now, if your already jacked up with some disease you can't get rid of from sex, then you can have sex with all those infested people, but I'm sure as hell NOT I want my man to be free from diseases! One guy I was with had HPV, and said I would get it well that's when I said "bye bye" I don't want that sh*t and even if I don't have sex I get checked once a yr, I'm very well sure that I want a pure man in my life (as in no diseases) if he's had a lot of sex that's his choice as long as he is disease free.

[aMuse]

Probably at some point... It would be HIV that we would want to prevent. There would have to be a world wide vaccination campaign to prevent further spread of the virus. Due to the instability of

RNA viruses and the constant mutation that occurs, we would likely need to do computer modeling and prediction of the most likely mutations to predict ahead of time. Populations might need to get vaccinations regularly like the flu shot until such time as HIV had been suppressed. I suppose it might be possible to create a vaccination that focuses around cells that present the p24 antigen. It's not an easy problem to resolve, but I think it will be solved or at least mitigated. Due to poor education around the world, it might only be a problem that is fixed in industrialized nations though.

[toouglytobeloved]

the only cure is to wipe it out by preventing it. I think the government should have a law to make folks get tested and if they are positive than they should be marked so you know and they can't lie about it and spread it more ... this should go for uncurable STDs or other diseases also

[jmr2191]

In AIDS, the virus attacks your immune system, destroying cells necessary for protecting your body from invaders and keeping benign but potentially dangerous bacteria in the body at bay. However, studies have identified that people who have an immunity to the black plague are also immune to the HIV/AIDS virus. By studying the DNA of these individuals, researchers are working on developing a possible cure and/or successful treatment.

[martyfellow]

No, the virus involved keeps mutating so no definitive cure will ever be found. Plus, our gays are incubating new versions of it just as fast as they can.

We need some form of quarantine to finally get this under control.

[Anonymous]

Yes, eventually, probably within our lifetime.

the most obvious way would be to stop AIDS from spreading, so when everyone with AIDS dies, there is no more AIDS (hopefully)

But this video here: www.YouTube.com/watch?v=HhhRQ4t95OI Shows how we could get a possible "cure".

[Konnour]

AIDS is God's way of saying "F*** you" so I don't think it will be found.

[Anonymous]

Yes. It is in final testing now.