HIV Came From Cameroon Chimps, Doctors Confirm

[The Straight Story]

HIV Came From Cameroon Chimps, Doctors Confirm

POSTED: 10:11 am EDT May 25, 2006
UPDATED: 2:18 pm EDT May 25, 2006

WASHINGTON -- Twenty-five years after the first AIDS cases emerged, scientists have confirmed that the HIV virus plaguing humans really did originate in wild chimpanzees in a corner of Cameroon.

Solving the mystery of HIV's ancestry was dirty work. Scientists employed trackers to plunge through dense jungle and collect the fresh feces of wild apes -- more than 1,300 samples in all.

Before that, it took seven years of research just to develop the testing methods to genetically trace the primate version of the virus in living wild chimps without hurting the endangered species.

Until now, "no one was able to look. No one had the tools," said Dr. Beatrice Hahn of the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She led the team of international researchers that reported the success in Friday's edition of the journal Science.


http://www.local6.com/health/9272679/detail.html

[devilgrrl]

1. Chimps who want humans to stay the fuck out

eom

[WindRavenX]

2. It makes sense

And it shows just how valuble viruses are in terms of measuring evolution.

Facinating stuff :thumbsup:

[Disturbed]

3. I read the article.

I wonder how AIDS got to the US.

[JackBeck]

6. Since HIV, the virus that can lead to an AIDS diagnosis, has been traced

back to the 1930's, it's not a surprise that this virus eventually made it to the States over time.

[Deja Q]

4. Well that puts bird flu to shame! And a most unpalatable thought:

Okay everybody, stop caressing chimps... :puke:

[KamaAina]

5. Has Pickles been tested yet?

:evilgrin:

[SammyWinstonJack]

10. LOL

:spray:

[jsamuel]

7. Freeper - That's impossible, homosexuality doesn't occur in nature.

:eyes:

[Touchdown]

8. Saw a film on this. It had a disclaimer at the beginning

Saying this was one hypothesis as to the origins of AIDS.

They were making and testing the polio vaccine, and innoculating humans in the 50s. They were supposed to use organs from some monkey that wasn't closely related to humans, but chimps were more populous in this part of the Congo.

This wasn't Salk's research. It was one of his competitors.

[JackBeck]

9. Interesting theory, but HIV has been traced back to the 1930's, and

may have been around even before that.

I love a good conspiracy theory. I've got plenty of my own. But when it comes to HIV, even though all the data isn't in, I tend to lean more to the SIV theory and zoonosis (viruses that jump from animal to human). A current day example would be Bird Flu and anthrax. A more dated one being the Black Plague.

As far as HIV being man-made, I would have to disagree with that. HIV specifically attacks CD4 cells, or T-cells as they can be referred. If the virus was around in the 30's or 50's, CD4 cells weren't discovered by scientists until the 1970's. So how could a virus be made to specifically invade a cell in order to reproduce and then kill it, if that cell hadn't even been discovered?

:tinfoilhat:

[CatWoman]

11. strong bloodline

if Bush is any indication.