Mating HIV DNA to cold virus DNA.
I see no problem here.
I mean, what could possibly go wrong?

Donald Cameron, Dundas, Canada

Ron,

Your immense ingorance is utterly breathtaking. Ryan White? Ring a bell in that hollow head of yours? Your singular solution to a complex problem sounds eerily similar to that of a brain washed religious nut who is incapable of independent thought. Newsflash, Ron, children are born with HIV in this world. While a vaccine may not cure them, ultimate eradication of the disease, coupled with responsible reproduction and lifestyle practices, wouldn't be a bad thing. I wish you luck on your long, arduous, and perhaps unattainable, road to enlightenment.

Dana, Des Moines, IA

I'm sorry, what does the second half of your article have to do with the first? From HIV to same sex parenting?

And about the above post--woman from Bangor, Maine-- injecting someone with the virus in question is the definition of a vaccine. Antibodies are usually produced in the body as a cause of a weakened version of the virus or bacteria...or in the case of Smallpox, a virus similar to that of the one in question.

Shannon, Washington, D.C.

"Neither nature nor science can yet create a human life from just two biological mothers or two biological fathers."

Um, Anjana -- sorry, perhaps I'm a little dense, but, um -- did you intend the above statement to be the basis for an argument against same-sex parenting? If so, it is not a very sound one.

Humans are no longer "natural" creatures. We haven't been for several million years. That, after all, is the very point of being human, as opposed to an animal? We adapt the "natural order" to suit ourselves.

Whether something is "naturally possible" is a non-argument. Not even your common, every-day produce section banana is "natural" anymore, is it?

Werner Liebenberg, Johannesburg, South Africa

I know a cure 100% effective. keep your legs closed and your pants up.


Simple but effective

Ron Nielsen, Palisade,

the difference is, when making a vaccine like this, the entire HIV is not stitched in the cold virus--all that's changed about the cold virus is its appearance. It's like it's dressed in new clothes. As we learned in elementary school, antibodies are creating through recognizing and latching onto immune system threats. Once antibodies are created for a specific germ, they continue to fight the germ--this is why you don't catch chicken pox twice. So what these scientists do is take the relatively harmless cold germ and make it appear like the HIV germs.
This is similar to how Merck made the Human Pappilomavirus (HPV--causes genital warts, possibly cervical cancer) vaccine Gardasil (released last year), though they use yeast organisms then, rather than cold germs.

Anna, Warren,

Dear Emily,

I find your comment to be rather patronising. The public has every right to question the design of any vaccine. However, yes, ofcourse we must look at the science:

Merck's HIV vaccine flop brings vectors under closer scrutiny
Heidi Ledford
Nat Biotechnol. 2008 Jan;26(1):3-4.

You say: 'There is no possible way that a person who was infected with these genes would get HIV or AIDS. Plus the likelihood of these cloned viruses getting anywhere near members of the public would be so miniscule as to be insignificant.'

Really? Ordinary cold viruses can be spread quite easily (as most people know) and even if the cloned viruses have been engineered in such way as to limit/prevent their spread from one individual to another, viruses have the capacity to mutate either on their own or by genetic exchange;hence, the worldwide concern about about bird flu. Furthermore, you should remember that the volunteers in these studies are themselves 'members of the public'.

Milla, Vienna,

HIV needs an immune cell to attack it for it to enter the cell and complete its lifecycle. So it isn't too surprising that increasing antibody levels increases susceptibility to infection.
Disappointing, of course, but if we knew the answers it wouldn't be research.

Malcolm McLean, Bradford, UK

Mike, learn some science before you start making wild accusations - only three genes from the virus were "stiched" into the cold virus. There is no possible way that a person who was infected with these genes would get HIV or AIDS. Plus the likelihood of these cloned viruses getting anywhere near members of the public would be so miniscule as to be insignificant.

Emily, London, UK

Surely in the instance where a 'father' chooses not to have any involvement in a childs life, a surrogate parent is preferable to an absent one? If two women, or men decide to take on the enormous responibility of raising a child we should give them our support not our ivory tower condemnation.

Siobhan, Dublin, Ireland

They're trying to eradicate HIV by injecting people with it? Oh. My. God.

Lois, Bangor,

Not very re-assuring that these scientists are just like shildren playing with fire.

One also ponders the wisdom of "stitching" HIV into the common cold virus. And they can hardly claim that it's perfectly safe to do it, can they...

Next time you catch a cold you can reflect on what it has stitched in to it, and which laboratory drain it escaped from. We should all sleep easier in our beds, knowing hoe science is looking after us.

And GM crops? Oh, perfectly safe...

Mike Poulsen, Reading, Berkshire