In this article they talk about possible protection from HIV in a gel applied after sex with an infected mate. The gel would only be used in females however. This gel doesn't have a complete 100% success rate though with one of six macaques given it still contracting HIV. The gel contains raltegravir which prevents the virus from integrating with the cells DNA.
HIV is a virus caused by the virus connecting with the CCR-5 protein receptor on your cells. It connects to these receptors causing the cell to open allowing it to enter the cell and infect it. Once it gets in it bursts open the cell causing it to go to other cells in the body.
However the human testing on this gel does cause moral conflict. Because the gel is combating what could be a deadly disease they can't really justify giving someone a placebo. The other possible option is instead of a placebo they give the person another drug already approved for human use.
This connects to our biology class because we were talking about cell receptors and mutations allowing people to be immune to HIV. This immunity comes from not having the CCR-5 receptor. Without this receptor the cell will not open so the virus can not get in.
"Macaque" http://www.theguardian.com/science/2008/oct/16/neuroscience-medicalresearch
I really enjoyed your post! I haven't heard of this gel before. No other student has posted about this topic or anything related to it, so I find this post to be very intriguing. This gel would obviously help monkeys in an isolated controlled environment, because in the wild there's no way to get the gel to the monkeys. I enjoyed reading this.
ReplyDeleteKristen,
ReplyDeleteYour post was very interesting! This was a very good topic. I have never heard of a gel like this before. I think it would be good for them to keep using the gel on the monkeys and hopefully they can find a way to make it work better to protect from HIV. Overall great blog.
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ReplyDeleteKristen, I really liked your post! Your title was eye catching considering we had been taking about HIV in class recently. It's interesting to know that people have found a gel that can protect against the HIV virus. I never would have thought that would be possible! Overall, your summary was really informative and you did a really nice job explaining the key points of the article! Great job!
ReplyDeleteKristen, your title hooked me in right away. An HIV cure/medicine has always been an interesting topic to me since it is incurable to current humans. This article is original because to my knowledge no other student has posted about HIV. I think this gel is very interesting and it will cool to see where science takes it.
ReplyDeleteKristen, you did a great job. Everything you mentioned about how the HIV virus spreads is correct and I really liked how you did your blog post on it. I think that this gel that they created is a step to a possible vaccine that could make any person immune to the virus. I just have one question and that is how is the gel applied do they eat it or is it applied to their skin?
ReplyDeleteYour blog post was very well done. Your connection to class was also great. However, I am left wondering how the gel works. Does it destroy the HIV virus, or does it make the receptors no longer attach to it? Either way, it is a genius invention, and a great first step in stopping, or slowing, the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Great work!
ReplyDeleteYour post was on an interesting subject, which your title relates to very well. However, you lacked substance in evidence, quotes, and I don't fully understand how this gel prevents HIV from clinging onto the cell and integrating its RNA. I like that you included a bit on the bioethical conflict that may arise from human testing, and I agree with your opinion. I am happy that someone in our class addressed this, and good job.
ReplyDeleteThis was a very interesting post. I was wondering if you chose this topic because of what we did in biology class? I liked how you explained all the main points of the article aswell as adding some thoughts of you own. Keep it up!
ReplyDeleteKristen, this was a very interesting post. I was recently watching a show on the Discovery Channel about the gel that prevents HIV. I, like will, am wondering if you chose this topic because of the connection in class when people who lack the affective CCR-5 co-receptor which makes them immune to HIV. Great job!
ReplyDeleteKristen, good job on your post. After learning about some humans being immune to HIV due to their lack of the CCR5 receptor in biology, I was interested to see if there could be a way to make all humans immune to the disease. I wish you had gone into more detail about how the gel works, but your post was still very interesting. Overall, good job.
ReplyDeleteGreat job! Like everyone else has said I have also never heard of this gel before and it looks like it could really work. You did a good job explaining what the HIV infection was and how this gel works. One thing I think you could improve on is just a expanding a little bit more on how it connects to biology class. Overall, Great Job!
ReplyDeleteIts nice to see that there are ways to help prevent incurable diseases such as HIV, although I wonder how well the gel will carry over onto humans. You also make a great point that it will be hard to test on humans, as HIV is deadly, so you can't justify potentially giving someone it. Your post was also intriguing: the title was short, and the actual post itself was concise, yet still gave details.
ReplyDeleteI thought your post was very well written and informative. We had just learned this material in biology so it's fresh in my mind and i thought you made great points. I like how you gave us background on the disease before jumping right into this gel. I thought that made for a better post. I think that it is self explanatory how your topic connects to what we are leaning in biology but you could have expanding a little more on that in your post. As a whole your post was great and very informative.
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