Man Cured of AIDS

[Coito ergo sum]

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS 5) — A 45-year-old man now living in the Bay Area may be the first person ever cured of the deadly disease AIDS, the result of the discovery of an apparent HIV immunity gene.
Timothy Ray Brown tested positive for HIV back in 1995, but has now entered scientific journals as the first man in world history to have that HIV virus completely eliminated from his body in what doctors call a “functional cure.”

http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2011/0 ... n-of-aids/

[Santa_Claus]

probably a mis-diagnosis.

[rachelbean]

Actually, this story has been out for quite a while. The problem is that his cure involved a stem cell transplant, which itself can be fatal even in a mostly healthy person. There is so much that has to go right and he just ended up with the magic combination. It is a step in the right direction for research but it's definitely not a realistic option for fighting the disease in general.

[Animavore]

The anthropomorphic bias in this story is disgraceful. Why not "AIDS cured of man"?
Seems like poor viruses can never catch a break

[Ronja]

The anthropomorphic bias in this story is disgraceful. Why not "AIDS cured of man"?
Seems like poor viruses can never catch a break

[nellikin]

"Scientists said Brown received stem cells from a donor who was immune to HIV. In fact, about one percent of Caucasians are immune to HIV. Some researchers think the immunity gene goes back to the Great Plague: people who survived the plague passed their immunity down and their heirs have it today."

Is AIDS related to the bubonic plague? Seems a bit weird to me.

Anyway - he's a very lucky guy. Hope he thanks god everyday for his existence.

[Pappa]

The anthropomorphic bias in this story is disgraceful. Why not "AIDS cured of man"?
Seems like poor viruses can never catch a break

I read an article last year that suggested there may be as many 'good' viruses as 'bad', but until now nobody though to look for them because people don't seek medical attention for being healthy. According to the article, viruses have been found that benefit the organism they infect, and many others are already known about that seem to do neither harm nor good. The article went on to say that in hindsight it makes sense that viruses that benefit the organism should evolve because of the obvious benefits to the virus too. I'm quite interested in seeing how this pans out as more research is done.

[Animavore]

Read 'Virolution' by Frank Ryan. Viruses have a symbiotic relationship with their hosts. Our DNA is littered with retrovirus.Viruses actually move along natural selection where diseased population that have sprung back after viral culling have an advantage over competing groups of the same species that try to encroach on their territory in that the other groups get wiped out.

[Pappa]

Read 'Virolution' by Frank Ryan. Viruses have a symbiotic relationship with their hosts. Our DNA is littered with retrovirus.Viruses actually move along natural selection where diseased population that have sprung back after viral culling have an advantage over competing groups of the same species that try to encroach on their territory in that the other groups get wiped out.

Added to my wishlist.

[Horwood Beer-Master]

"Scientists said Brown received stem cells from a donor who was immune to HIV. In fact, about one percent of Caucasians are immune to HIV. Some researchers think the immunity gene goes back to the Great Plague: people who survived the plague passed their immunity down and their heirs have it today."

Is AIDS related to the bubonic plague? Seems a bit weird to me.

Anyway - he's a very lucky guy. Hope he thanks god everyday for his existence.

The Great Plauge/Black Death may not have been bubonic plague. Some experts think it may have been some now unknown virus more closely related to Ebola or something - I can't recall the exact details.

[Animavore]

"Scientists said Brown received stem cells from a donor who was immune to HIV. In fact, about one percent of Caucasians are immune to HIV. Some researchers think the immunity gene goes back to the Great Plague: people who survived the plague passed their immunity down and their heirs have it today."

Is AIDS related to the bubonic plague? Seems a bit weird to me.

Anyway - he's a very lucky guy. Hope he thanks god everyday for his existence.

The Great Plauge/Black Death may not have been bubonic plague. Some experts think it may have been some now unknown virus more closely related to Ebola or something - I can't recall the exact details.

This is correct. The symptoms aren't the same. Archaeological evidence even shows there were no rats in England at the time. In the case of England they can even trace the guy who brought it over. There's a great documentary on it. Can't remember the name.

[Horwood Beer-Master]

"Scientists said Brown received stem cells from a donor who was immune to HIV. In fact, about one percent of Caucasians are immune to HIV. Some researchers think the immunity gene goes back to the Great Plague: people who survived the plague passed their immunity down and their heirs have it today."

Is AIDS related to the bubonic plague? Seems a bit weird to me.

Anyway - he's a very lucky guy. Hope he thanks god everyday for his existence.

The Great Plauge/Black Death may not have been bubonic plague. Some experts think it may have been some now unknown virus more closely related to Ebola or something - I can't recall the exact details.

This is correct. The symptoms aren't the same. Archaeological evidence even shows there were no rats in England at the time. In the case of England they can even trace the guy who brought it over. There's a great documentary on it. Can't remember the name.

There were rat's, but they were all black rats (Rattus rattus) in those days, and tended to stay in the cities and other warm places, whereas the Black Death had no problem spreading through rural areas.


Odd to think the black rat is near-as-damn-it extinct in this country now.

[GenesForLife]

Old news. the apposite paper is Hutter G, Novak D, Mossner M, Ganepola S , Allers K et al (2009) Long Term Control of HIV by CCR5 Delta32/Delta32 Stem Cell Transplantation, N Engl J Med, 2009;360:692-8. The next step will be to find ways of inducing the CCR5 delta 32 phenotype without necessitating marrow stem cell transplantation. This phenotype confers immunity by two means, firstly by producing a defective CCR5 protein that the virus cannot use to enter CD4 Cells, and secondly by triggering the reduced expression of CXCR4, which is another co-receptor that HIV uses to gain entry to cells.

[rachelbean]

That's what I meant

[GenesForLife]

That's what I meant

I never said that's not the case.