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1-12-10 issuePoints in the article that caught my attention were as follows:
- Not to awaken the immune system with injecting snipets of the virus.Do not expect the bofy to do all the work of first recognition.
- Why not present the bofy with a ready made arsenal of antibodis? No prepping and priming the immune system needed.
- Aaron Diamond Research Center NYC and the Bill Gates Foundation steering 7 million his way.
- Second key receptor the virus uses to invade cells
- The virus is a moving target Dr Gary Nabel Nat Inst of Health
- Malaise at Dr Ho's Lab- Thought he found X Factor and had to retract paper- low morale at the lab
- Scientific slump at the lab personality conflicts. Certain studies kept under wraps
- 2004 Merck tests ended 3 years later with disappointing results and incrased the risk for some people.
- 2007-Ho's discovery of the compound produced possibility of an answer. In Houston, the biotech firm Tanox developed a compound that it thought might interest Ho. IBALIZUMAB. Block's HIV entry into healthy cells.
- Was it worth developing further? Would the virus resist it?
- IBALIZUMAB works at a critical juncture where HIV meets a healthy CD4 cell.
- It prevents the infection from entering the cell.
- A bypassiong vaccine bypassing the traditional and frustrating process of what the immune system needs to fight HIV.
- Phoned his lab to investigate the literaure on this drug. Functions of the drug. First CD4 is like an immunological sentinel recognizing various pathogens such as influenza and mark them for destruction by other cells. HIV attaches to this CD4 and intrictaely works to invade this cell.IBALIZUMAB. disrupts this "molecular choreography .It binds to the CD4 cell serving as an immunological snare.
- Tying up CD4 may not be such a good idea.Patient may be vulnerable to other infectious agents .IBALIZUMAB is kmore agile and does not imapir the CD4 function of immunological defense according to Ho.
- Not on the level of a polio vaccine to wipe out thedisease but one of many weapons to treat HIV.
- "It takes more than instinct to make good science".Intuition and technical skill is needed to make contact with a significant treatment.
