HIV/AIDS

The CDC’s New Chief Was Accused of Fudging HIV Vaccine Research in the Early 1990s

The track record of Trump appointees tasked with safeguarding the country’s public health has been, in the kindest sense, spotty. So it probably shouldn’t come as a surprise that the latest person tapped to head the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Robert Redfield, is alleged to have engaged in research misconduct involving an experimental…

Sobbing Martin Shkreli Sentenced to 7 Years in Prison for Securities Fraud and Being an Asshole

When “pharma bro” Martin Shkreli spoke with Gizmodo back in September, he told us he wouldn’t spend a single day in prison. Turns out, he was wrong. Shkreli was sentenced to seven years in prison today by US District Judge Kiyo Matsumoto at a hearing in Brooklyn, with credit for time served since he was…

White House Fires Entirety of HIV/AIDS Advisory Council Via FedEx

The White House’s purge of Barack Obama-era federal appointees has taken a few more turns with the termination of all remaining 16 members of the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDs, allegedly via a FedEx letter that offered no explanation, the Washington Blade reported this week. Six of the council’s members had already resigned earlier this…

Georgia Rep. Betty Price Ponders Whether State Could Just ‘Quarantine’ People With HIV

Georgia State Rep. Betty Price—spouse of former Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price, who recently left his role in Donald Trump’s administration after taking a few too many taxpayer-funded charter flights—casually asked a state epidemiologist whether it would be more cost-effective to just force HIV-positive people into quarantine. Per the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Price’s phrasing…

Certain Penis-Dwelling Bacteria Might Increase Your HIV Risk

HIV transmission is a complex process with factors beyond just who you sleep with and how. The virus ultimately needs to find its way to the correct kinds of cells in order to wreak havoc. And some of the risk, at least for those with penises, may come from the kinds of bacteria on the…

Why Six HIV Experts Just Resigned From Trump’s AIDS Advisory Council

Over the weekend, six members of the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS (PACHA) resigned in protest of the American Health Care Act bill, saying Trump “doesn’t care” about people living with HIV. Founded in 1995, PACHA advises the president and the Secretary of Health and Human Services on healthcare policies that will combat the spread…

Gene-Editing Attacks Can’t Defeat HIV As Easily As We Thought

Scientists are excited about the prospect of using CRISPR, a powerful gene-editing tool, to combat HIV. A discouraging follow-up study shows that HIV is capable of developing a resistance to the genetic attack—but scientists say CRISPR’s battle with HIV is far from over. To quickly recap, scientists have started to use the CRISPR/cas9 gene-editing system…

The HIV infection rate among African American and Latina women in Southern states now rivals that of sub-Saharan Africa. Although most of those patients rely on Medicaid, the nine Deep South states with the highest infection and fatality rates have not opted to expand the program under the Affordable Care Act.

New Computer-Designed ‘Drug’ Prevents AIDS From Replicating

European researchers have used a computer to design small synthetic molecules capable of attacking the deadly AIDS virus where it hurts the most: its ability to produce the genetic material required for replication. It’s the first time in history this has ever been done. To date, HIV/AIDS has killed more than 28 million people worldwide.…

New discovery brings us one step closer to preventing HIV infections

In a breakthrough six years in the making, an international team of researchers has determined the precise atomic structure of a cell-surface receptor that’s used by most strains of HIV to infect human immune cells. The finding could result in medicines that block the process. HIV researchers have been making great strides recently — and…

First a baby, now 14 adults “functionally cured” of HIV

Earlier this month, doctors announced that a baby had been cured of an HIV infection. Now, using a similar technique, it appears that 14 adults have likewise been successfully treated for the disease. The trick, say the scientists, is to tackle the infection early. The research was conducted by Asier Sáez-Cirión of the Pasteur Institute…

New HIV vaccine shows promising results and no adverse side-effects

Canadian researchers working to develop the world’s first HIV vaccine announced on Tuesday that they have cleared a major hurdle. Initial results from a Phase I trial conducted by scientists at Western University has shown no adverse effects while significantly boosting immunity. The vaccine, which is based on a genetically modified, dead virus, can now…