Comments on: Learning To Ignore Your Viruses http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/loom/2006/03/31/learning-to-ignore-your-viruses/ Mon, 04 Feb 2013 17:13:44 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4.2 By: Chris Noble http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/loom/2006/03/31/learning-to-ignore-your-viruses/#comment-3205 Chris Noble Wed, 05 Apr 2006 01:51:34 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/loom/2006/03/31/learning-to-ignore-your-viruses/#comment-3205 This is an interesting idea but perhaps a bit simplistic. They have created transgenic rats that express some HIV genes. These rats develop some HIV related pathology. <a href="http://www.pubmedcentral.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pubmed&pubmedid=11481487" rel="nofollow"><a href="http://www.pubmedcentral.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pubmed&pubmedid=11481487" rel="nofollow">http://www.pubmedcentral.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pubmed&pubmedid=11481487</a></a> This is an interesting idea but perhaps a bit simplistic.

They have created transgenic rats that express some HIV genes. These rats develop some HIV related pathology.

http://www.pubmedcentral.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pubmed&pubmedid=11481487

]]> By: Clinton http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/loom/2006/03/31/learning-to-ignore-your-viruses/#comment-3204 Clinton Tue, 04 Apr 2006 21:08:56 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/loom/2006/03/31/learning-to-ignore-your-viruses/#comment-3204 Reading the "Sixty-Million-Year Virus" article a few weeks ago made me wonder. What would happen if we genetically engineered humans to be virus free? Would they be the perfect specimens of health? My guess is that they would not. Any virus they encounter would be potentially deadly, as the body becomes its most dangerous enemy. It makes sense that lysogenic viruses carry some sort of evolutionary advantage... but it still sounds bizarre. Could immune-system ignorance also explain why 90% of the population can be carriers of herpes simplex, but only 10% get canker sores in their mouths? Maybe most people "decide" that it is just not worth the effort to fight it off. It is interesting how we all struggle to coexist. Reading the “Sixty-Million-Year Virus” article a few weeks ago made me wonder. What would happen if we genetically engineered humans to be virus free? Would they be the perfect specimens of health?

My guess is that they would not. Any virus they encounter would be potentially deadly, as the body becomes its most dangerous enemy. It makes sense that lysogenic viruses carry some sort of evolutionary advantage… but it still sounds bizarre. Could immune-system ignorance also explain why 90% of the population can be carriers of herpes simplex, but only 10% get canker sores in their mouths? Maybe most people “decide” that it is just not worth the effort to fight it off.

It is interesting how we all struggle to coexist.

]]> By: luca http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/loom/2006/03/31/learning-to-ignore-your-viruses/#comment-3203 luca Tue, 04 Apr 2006 07:51:09 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/loom/2006/03/31/learning-to-ignore-your-viruses/#comment-3203 I, like the King, can't quite grasp how just splicing the HIV genome into my children's would auto(bio)magically 'protect' them from getting AIDS... Carl, could you please elaborate on the mechanism? hey, sort of wild guess: may be the viral genes in the genomes are there as a sort of 'textbook' for immune cells to learn from. may be they get expressed in tiny quantities in the thymus, so that immune cells there are 'schooled' on them... gosh, I don't know nearly enough biology to know whether I'm saying anything sensible at all... I, like the King, can’t quite grasp how just splicing the HIV genome into my children’s would auto(bio)magically ‘protect’ them from getting AIDS… Carl, could you please elaborate on the mechanism?

hey, sort of wild guess: may be the viral genes in the genomes are there as a sort of ‘textbook’ for immune cells to learn from. may be they get expressed in tiny quantities in the thymus, so that immune cells there are ‘schooled’ on them… gosh, I don’t know nearly enough biology to know whether I’m saying anything sensible at all…

]]> By: Alexander http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/loom/2006/03/31/learning-to-ignore-your-viruses/#comment-3202 Alexander Mon, 03 Apr 2006 00:40:30 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/loom/2006/03/31/learning-to-ignore-your-viruses/#comment-3202 And how do safe sex and better education handle cases where people are exposed to HIV via contaminated blood products or some other vectors not related to sexual activities? It's worthwhile to note that more education and methods for safe sex still hasn't reduced infection rates. Sex is a powerful biological urge, it's hard to counter that with just education. It's far more cost-effective and productive to figure out how to eliminate the HIV threat althogether by technological means. If that means merging our genomes with the HIV genome, then so be it, we've faced other things a lot worse than the HIV virus. And how do safe sex and better education handle cases where people are exposed to HIV via contaminated blood products or some other vectors not related to sexual activities?

It’s worthwhile to note that more education and methods for safe sex still hasn’t reduced infection rates. Sex is a powerful biological urge, it’s hard to counter that with just education. It’s far more cost-effective and productive to figure out how to eliminate the HIV threat althogether by technological means. If that means merging our genomes with the HIV genome, then so be it, we’ve faced other things a lot worse than the HIV virus.

]]> By: Aetiology http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/loom/2006/03/31/learning-to-ignore-your-viruses/#comment-3206 Aetiology Sat, 01 Apr 2006 18:00:32 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/loom/2006/03/31/learning-to-ignore-your-viruses/#comment-3206 <strong>Ignoring: not just for kids anymore</strong> At the risk of starting an infectious cancer/HIV/AIDS fight over at The Loom, I'll point your attention to Carl's post discussing, well, those topics here. He elaborates on a study I mentioned here but didn't delve very much into the... Ignoring: not just for kids anymore

At the risk of starting an infectious cancer/HIV/AIDS fight over at The Loom, I’ll point your attention to Carl’s post discussing, well, those topics here. He elaborates on a study I mentioned here but didn’t delve very much into the…

]]> By: sunder raman http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/loom/2006/03/31/learning-to-ignore-your-viruses/#comment-3201 sunder raman Sat, 01 Apr 2006 02:21:00 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/loom/2006/03/31/learning-to-ignore-your-viruses/#comment-3201 Gene therapy to insert HIV genes into the genome to prevent AIDS may be unnecessary. How about safe sex and better education? Gene therapy to insert HIV genes into the genome to prevent AIDS may be unnecessary. How about safe sex and better education?

]]> By: King Aardvark http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/loom/2006/03/31/learning-to-ignore-your-viruses/#comment-3200 King Aardvark Fri, 31 Mar 2006 20:37:59 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/loom/2006/03/31/learning-to-ignore-your-viruses/#comment-3200 That has got to be one of the weirdest things I've seen on this blog, zombie cockroaches not withstanding. Intentionally giving our children HIV to spare them from AIDS, eh? Carl, you sure have the knack of finding the weirdest and most wonderful of biology and sharing it with the rest of us. Out of curiosity, do they expect any side effects from inserting HIV genes into our genomes? You mentioned a "minor burden" in the monkeys infected with HIV. What kind of effects did monkeys experience once their immune cells were affected? That has got to be one of the weirdest things I’ve seen on this blog, zombie cockroaches not withstanding. Intentionally giving our children HIV to spare them from AIDS, eh? Carl, you sure have the knack of finding the weirdest and most wonderful of biology and sharing it with the rest of us. Out of curiosity, do they expect any side effects from inserting HIV genes into our genomes? You mentioned a “minor burden” in the monkeys infected with HIV. What kind of effects did monkeys experience once their immune cells were affected?

]]>