5 ms·

I call bullshit. As a kid who grew up in the 1980s and suffered through endless funerals and stuff, I also observed that any time a research lab was nearly out

I call bullshit. As a kid who grew up in the 1980s and suffered through endless funerals and stuff, I also observed that any time a research lab was nearly out of funds, they'd send out a press release claiming something that sounded important, but wasn't. The local congress person would find funds to keep the research group going and "save the day". The research that was "saved" was usually an impressive-sounding tidbit that wasn't really impressive. "Kills HIV in the test-tube" became a red flag for me... that was always an indicator something fishy was going on. HIV is easy to kill. oxygen kills it. Sadly, you can't pump pure oxygen into the blood or the patient dies. Killing HIV in a testtube was the experiment you did to get PR and more funding. One person "cured" is an anecdote, not a breakthrough. Occasionally people's bodies cure themselves. After 12 years of trying someone was "cured"? I'll believe it when I see it done in a repeatable way. Sorry for being such a downer. I've had my heart broken too many times.

johnmarcus 8y ago
it wasn't all bullshit though, you were just to young to understand the concept of how science works. you thought breakthroughs were cure-all's, when really they were incremental improvements. By the 90's, they had meds which has allowed patience to live long and relatively normal lives - those meds came from the scientific breakthroughs of the 80's which you despise so much. Likewise, no one is saying this a practical cure - but scientifically speaking these are two individuals whom have been relieved of the disease, thoroughly confirmed, and now with two patients, a replicated process (however impractical it is). Sorry for your losses, just saying, you shouldn't 'shit' on peoples hard scientific work because it didn't fulfill your hopes and dreams.
jobigoud 8y ago
One thing I distinctly remember about HIV in the early 90's is researchers saying that if we didn't figure out a cure in the next few years we would never find it. I think due to mutability. I'm not sure exactly what they based their assertions on.
matthewmacleod 8y ago
Yeah, well you haven’t been paying enough attention. As a result of funding, drugs are now widely and cheaply available that effectively suppress HIV and, when taken as a prophylactic, prevent infection. Decades of research means that science now has a clearer understanding of the mechanisms behind HIV and has used that to develop tools to control it. Because it is not “cured” yet does not mean that funding research is bad.

johnmarcus 8y ago

it wasn't all bullshit though, you were just to young to understand the concept of how science works. you thought breakthroughs were cure-all's, when really they were incremental improvements. By the 90's, they had meds which has allowed patience to live long and relatively normal lives - those meds came from the scientific breakthroughs of the 80's which you despise so much. Likewise, no one is saying this a practical cure - but scientifically speaking these are two individuals whom have been relieved of the disease, thoroughly confirmed, and now with two patients, a replicated process (however impractical it is). Sorry for your losses, just saying, you shouldn't 'shit' on peoples hard scientific work because it didn't fulfill your hopes and dreams.

jobigoud 8y ago

One thing I distinctly remember about HIV in the early 90's is researchers saying that if we didn't figure out a cure in the next few years we would never find it. I think due to mutability. I'm not sure exactly what they based their assertions on.

matthewmacleod 8y ago

Yeah, well you haven’t been paying enough attention. As a result of funding, drugs are now widely and cheaply available that effectively suppress HIV and, when taken as a prophylactic, prevent infection. Decades of research means that science now has a clearer understanding of the mechanisms behind HIV and has used that to develop tools to control it. Because it is not “cured” yet does not mean that funding research is bad.