Finding job satisfaction as a humanitarian researcher
Panagiotis Vagenas left Yale University to advise a non-profit on research design and quality. Read more
A CRISPR screen for HIV targets
A new study published online this week in Nature Genetics reports the discovery of novel host targets of HIV infection identified from a high-throughput CRISPR/Cas9-based screen. This screen was performed in CD4 + T-cells and was designed to find candidate genes required for successful HIV infection, but whose inactivation did not affect cell viability. In this way, potential drug targets for anti-HIV therapy could be discovered. Read more
As gene therapy technologies blossom, ddRNAi tries to take root
Before there was Twitter, there was Facebook, and before that, Friendster. And who can forget MySpace? There’s a similar trend of successive usurping technologies in the fast-moving quest to develop therapeutics capable of modifying the genome. Since the late nineties, we’ve witnessed the rise of several gene-silencing approaches, from “antisense” oligonucleotides and RNA interference (RNAi) to the latest targeted genome-editing techniques, such as those based on zinc finger nucleases or CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats) technology. These rapid developments raise the stakes for companies that have wagered on a particular gene-silencing approach. Read more
Why the army’s incredible cure claims found ground among Egyptians
The Egyptian army’s claim to have invented a device that can detect and cure hepatitis C and AIDS seemed incredulous to many of us when it was first announced in a large press conference, but with every media report it became more absurd and ridiculous. Read more
The false science behind Egyptian army’s AIDS and HCV cure
While politics are usually the main topic of discussion in most Arab states, surprisingly, science took the forefront in Egypt over the past few days – for some rather unfortunate reasons, however. Read more
New, intensive trials planned on heels of Mississippi HIV ‘cure’
ATLANTA — Until recently, the medical community held a consensus that children born with HIV might be obliged to take antiretroviral drugs for the rest of their lives. But the announcement made last week that an infant in rural Mississippi who stopped receiving medicine at 18 months of age and has since lived for a year with no measurable viral RNA in the blood is prompting HIV experts to question the conventional wisdom. Read more
FDA approves landmark HIV prevention drug
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved the medicine. Truvada as a way to reduce the risk of sexually acquired HIV-1 infection. It is the first medication approved to prevent infection in adults who do not have HIV. The drug would be prescribed, along with safer sex practices and regular HIV testing, to people whose partners have HIV and others likely to have sex with infected people. Read more
