231–240 of 490 posts
As I understand it, the reason an HIV vaccine has been so difficult to create is that HIV mutates so easily. I understand the basics behind how mRNA vaccines are generated, but I don't understand why this approach would be expected to have any more success in evading the high mutation potential of HIV than other vaccine types. After all, it was even a concern with new coronavirus variants that the original Moderna va…
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I didn't know this. Could you explain the reason?
CDC backing up this claim. Having an undetectable viral load prevents transmission during sex —- but likely not during needle sharing. The answer to why seems to be an obvious “because there are less virus particles”. I’m linking a couple of scientific studies following couples having condomless sex where one partner is HIV positive, on ART with low viral load. Among the about 2000 couples in these studies there were…
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But see, you didn't actually make a point in your original comment. I don't mean that rudely. You referred to the "arrogance [we] likely use to discuss the correctness of [our] code." What are actually saying here? If you want to engage in discussion, I encourage you to use plain language. Accuse the community directly of whatever charge you're bringing, and then we can debate.
Would you deploy in production a software (which lack of safety could be critical) without being sure (or have proof) if it will effectively work as expected in 1+ years? Would you be relaxed being the administrator of such a software?
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I think slowly will come the realization that mRNA vaccines aren’t as fast to develop as people thought. Sputnik/AstraZeneca vaccines were released almost at the same time as Moderna/Pfizer. Yes, the latter were first commercial mRNA vaccines, but the technology is nevertheless rather mature. I watched a lecture by the people credited with creating mRNA vaccines and it turns out people have been working on the techno…
One single employee at Pfizer created 10 vaccine candidates in one day. > Now, the thing is that you can’t just sequence a virus, do bioinformatics, synthesize mRNA and package it into a nano particle. You can, and that's exactly what was done. However, out of the 10 or so candidates, they selected a few of the more promising ones to continue research. They are fast to develop. However, there are other steps in the p…
And yes, AlphaFold is a major milestone, but I don’t think we’ve solved protein folding for good.
To this day it still terrifies me, even though the treatments have become so good.
Each year it seems there are new stories about HIV research, and progress keeps being made. I pray for positive results and am really amazed. We have a lot to be thankful for.
As I understand it, the reason an HIV vaccine has been so difficult to create is that HIV mutates so easily. I understand the basics behind how mRNA vaccines are generated, but I don't understand why this approach would be expected to have any more success in evading the high mutation potential of HIV than other vaccine types. After all, it was even a concern with new coronavirus variants that the original Moderna va…
There's some known HIV "bnAbs", or broadly neutralizing antibodies. The thing is, these are not the antibodies most humans develop in response to HIV. Previous HIV vaccine attempts have only done a fair job at eliciting these broadly neutralizing responses. e.g. SAV001, a "whole killed" HIV vaccine, only produces broadly neutralizing antibodies in about a third of recipients (and less broadly neutralizing response in…
In many cases. One case, for example was identified from a prostitute in sub-saharan africa who managed to be completely HIV-free. It turned out she had a mutation in her antibodies that caused the antibodies to latch onto things with four sites instead of just 2 (think X shaped instead of V shaped).
As I understand it, the reason an HIV vaccine has been so difficult to create is that HIV mutates so easily. I understand the basics behind how mRNA vaccines are generated, but I don't understand why this approach would be expected to have any more success in evading the high mutation potential of HIV than other vaccine types. After all, it was even a concern with new coronavirus variants that the original Moderna va…
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Cool! When am I getting my free 5G?
I wonder if we'll see HSV also addressed by this new wave of mRNA vaccines, or if it's just not top of mind for companies and researchers due to its "mostly benign" nature. At least until one's immune system starts to weaken with advanced age and it starts to cause all sorts of problems, but perhaps by then it gets swept under the "problems of aging" rug.
I have an interest in this too, with most of the worlds population infected with some type HSV and being linked to Alzheimer's disease, MS and many horrible disease. It's about time we defeat HSV too!
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CDC backing up this claim. Having an undetectable viral load prevents transmission during sex —- but likely not during needle sharing. The answer to why seems to be an obvious “because there are less virus particles”. I’m linking a couple of scientific studies following couples having condomless sex where one partner is HIV positive, on ART with low viral load. Among the about 2000 couples in these studies there were…
It does sound suspiciously like wishful thinking though, doesn’t it? You can’t sample all parts and all fluids of someone’s body all the time. Maybe trace undetectable levels of the virus can be transmitted, and of course they are going to look like a “no transmission” case if you lack the ability to detect that amount of virus. And that’s either not a problem (if trace levels = no symptoms), or a ticking time bomb w…
You don’t need to be a 100% sure. Once the risk becomes small enough you can spend your time worrying about other risks.
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I didn't know this. Could you explain the reason?
Presumably the viral load required for transmission is greater than the viral load required for detection.