Potential AIDS cure
 

http://mg.co.za/article/2013-01-16-a...cure-for-aids/

I can see condom sales falling in the next few years if this works out...

hopefully not, afterall AIDS is only one of many reasons for a rubber.

Just as a note, this is NOT a cure for HIV (but still a treatment for it). HIV is the virus that causes AIDS. AIDS is just a condition based on the number of T cells.

indeed, though there are those who live out their entire lives with HIV and never get AIDS.

We know that, but I can't help but fear that the threat of AIDS was what really concentrated safe sex in the minds of young (and not so young, of course) people.

AIDS is a very peculiar virus ... easily killed, but fairly unique in its attack. It certainly is of interest in the sense that, well, "maybe this is how the cancer virus(es) work(s)." (Does the uncontrolled cell growth of cancer have anything to do with, say, warts and moles?) Research into ways of breaking the reproductive cycle of such a thing are interesting ... of course, what we don't know yet is whether there are some other life-critical processes in, say, the human body that would be similarly disrupted. But we should find out.

indeed, hence the hopefully NOT part ^^

Warts are caused by HPV, some strains of which have been shown to be oncogenic (at least for squamous cell carcinoma of the cervix). Moles are unusual things, I've seen articles that say that moles are correlated with longer and healthier life span:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/story/.../13/moles.html
I have no clue how this can be, but it is interesting.

Also note that moles tend to be seen in a bad light because melanoma is seen as associated with them. Actually, only certain types of moles have a chance to transform into melanoma.

What I personally notice about warts and moles is that they are characterized by "atypical" cell-growth that seems to be largely uncontrolled. Skin cells that ought to produce a smooth surface and nothing more, instead are induced to produce a lump. My instinct, therefore, is that if one type of (e.g...) virus is able to produce such a change, other things out there just might be able to do more.

AIDS, as I said, is a weak virus .. easily destroyed, and limited in its ability to spread itself .. but nevertheless it has a profoundly disruptive effect on the system that's responsible for defense of the body. It would therefore be interesting to discover even a "brutish" form of intervention that could be targeted against it, because maybe it would then be possible to target other cells that have been "kidnapped."

wrong. EVERY person who has been infected with HIV has eventually gone on to AIDS. THere are some who have lived for a few decades before succumbing, but they did succumb. Hate to bust your bubble, but HIV is still a death sentence.

Every person? So some haven't died by being shot (if the are in the USA) or hit by a bus or having a heart attack before they developed AIDS?

That is true ATM, but current treatments have significantly prolonged life expectancy and quality. Your attitude towards the diseases matters a lot too. If you believe it is a death sentence then it probably will be, and sooner than more optimistic people.

I thougt I heard recently that HIV could be managed indefinately with a cocktail of medecines? Not a great life, of course, and ending treatment means AIDS can take hold but I'm sure I read that people treated correctly had "normal" life expectancy nowadays at least in some cases?

In one-third of the cases, or thereabouts, the retroviral drugs are not effective at all. If the cases where it is initially effective, it lengthens life considerably, but in teh end, the virus mutates around the drugs and you get aids.