CRISPR eliminates HIV-1 infection in live animals

Post by mr_spothawk » Tue, May 02, 2017, 9:47 PM UTC

pingec wrote: post #97

Animats wrote: post #32

Back in 2011, there was an announcement from MIT about a new approach to a broad-spectrum antiviral that appeared to work.[1] This goes way beyond an AIDS-specific cure. But it was at MIT Lincoln Labs, which doesn't usually do bio. So the researcher moved to Draper Labs, but didn't get much funding. Then that funding ran out. Now the guy behind this is trying to get funding on Indiegogo.[3] The problem seems to be th…

It's suspicious that in 6 year he hasn't received any substantial funding. Anyways here is a link for donations: https://riderinstitute.org/pages/donate-to-draco-antiviral-r...

Post by skj » Tue, May 02, 2017, 9:52 PM UTC

ShannonAlther wrote: post #35

skj wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Right now HIV infections are basically a minor nuisance, provided you're taking the appropriate medication Even with your caveat, the fact that more than 1 million people died from HIV in 2015 is probably a good signal to not use the term "minor nuisance". https://www.cdc.gov/hiv/basics/statistics.html

People who don't have access to truvada definitely aren't going to be getting cutting-edge gene therapy any time soon. And how many people died of type I diabetes in 2015?

Post by komali2 » Tue, May 02, 2017, 10:00 PM UTC

FiatLuxDave wrote: post #109

dicroce wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So, was he right?

Short answer: Yes. Longer answer: When I first read it, I didn't think that the limitation that he had proposed applied to the type of device that we were making. He was really criticizing a similar but-not-identical type of fusion concept, and I clung to the differences. However, as our work progressed, I saw that the basic concept applied, which is that the scattering which would occur in a plasma (or a beam) would…

Post by iDemonix » Tue, May 02, 2017, 10:05 PM UTC

grawlinson wrote: post #116

BubbasDad wrote: post #78

In 2013 a very highly-placed Goldman Sachs exec, a friend of a friend, told me his AMFAR contacts predicted a 'genetics-based cure' in a 3-4 years instead of the 10 years they publicly projected. The rationale was donations would stop if people knew how close they were to a cure.

Even if AIDS is defeated, there's always other medical maladies that affect people. MRSA, for one.

Post by noipv4 » Tue, May 02, 2017, 10:12 PM UTC

ChuckMcM wrote: post #66

Animats wrote: post #32

Back in 2011, there was an announcement from MIT about a new approach to a broad-spectrum antiviral that appeared to work.[1] This goes way beyond an AIDS-specific cure. But it was at MIT Lincoln Labs, which doesn't usually do bio. So the researcher moved to Draper Labs, but didn't get much funding. Then that funding ran out. Now the guy behind this is trying to get funding on Indiegogo.[3] The problem seems to be th…

Given billionaires running their own space programs it makes me wonder why there aren't more billionaires running biologic research companies. Between life extension and immunity to (or protection from) really pathological conditions it seems like their interests would be aligned with folks like this.