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RESEARCHERS IN THE US have reported significant progress in their development of a vaccine against HIV.
The Oregon Health and Science University’s Vaccine and Gene Therapy Institute published an update in the journal Nature today, outlining latest test results which show that their vaccine appears to completely clear the virus from in monkeys.
The scientists have used a non-human primate form of HIV – called simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) – which causes AIDS in monkeys in their experiments but they hope a HIV-form of the vaccine candidate can be tested on humans soon.
“To date, HIV infection has only been cured in a very small number of highly-publicised but unusual clinical cases in which HIV-infected individuals were treated with anti-viral medicines very early after the onset of infection or received a stem cell transplant to combat cancer,” said Louis Picker, associate director of the OHSU Vaccine and Gene Therapy Institute.
“This latest research suggests that certain immune responses elicited by a new vaccine may also have the ability to completely remove HIV from the body.”
Picker’s lab uses cytomegalovirus, or CMV, a common virus already carried by a large percentage of the population in its candidate vaccine. The researchers found that the engineered CMV which expressed SIV proteins can generate and maintain cells that search out and destroy SIV-infected cells.
According to Science Daily, about 50 percent of monkeys given highly pathogenic SIV after being vaccinated with this vaccine became infected with SIV but over time eliminated all trace of SIV from the body.
In effect, the hunters of the body were provided with a much better targeting system and better weapons to help them find and destroy an elusive enemy.
“Through this method we were able to teach the monkey’s body to better ‘prepare its defences’ to combat the disease,” explained Picker.
“Our vaccine mobilised a T-cell response that was able to overtake the SIV invaders in 50 per cent of the cases treated. Moreover, in those cases with a positive response, our testing suggests SIV was banished from the host. We are hopeful that pairing our modified CMV vector with HIV will lead to a similar result in humans.”
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Cheap clothing is all that most can afford. If you are on a limited income there isn’t much point in spending a fortune on one item of clothing. Plus it will be put of fashion after a few months . It’s the fashion industry that drives the changes so drives the need for cheap clothing for those on lower incomes. Talk to fashion industry and ask them about their responsibility and what they are going to do about the environmental impact of the problem they created.
@Catherine Sims: You can get cheap clothes in Charity Shops, it’s way better for the environment than buying them new, and some of the money you spend might help people in need.
@Catherine Sims: Charity shops sell some lovely high end clothes. They also sell clothes that were cheap brand new. I rarely buy from other shops now. As for being in fashion, do people really care about that these days?
@Fifty Shades of Sé: Clothes are donated to charity shops usually because they are out of fashion. Plus a lot of clothes in charity shops originated from cheap clothing chains . Also clothes in s lot of Charity shops really aren’t much cheaper than new clothes from cheaper clothing chains. Believe me I checked. I used to be a big clothing upcycler in the past . Clothes in secondhand shops were much cheaper back then. That’s not the case now though. I’m older so fashion isn’t my priority now . I am though pretty broke and do need clothing and still find that the best bargains are in the cheaper clothing stores. That’s the bottom line. People living on or less than 200 quid a week cannot spend a fortune on clothes.
@Catherine Sims: I’m a straight guy so I don’t really care about fashion. If you shop around in Charity Shops you can definitely find stuff cheaper than even the cheapest chain stores.
@Fifty Shades of Sé: Ah here leave it out. I’m a puff and I couldn’t give a flying F about fashion.
@Fifty Shades of Sé: wtf does being straight have to do with anything? My two brothers are straight but take great care with their look. What an odd thing to say!
@Deborah Behan: There are some male fashion designers but for the most part they are flamingly homosexual. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that, I think the fashion industry has a lot to answer for socially and environmentally though.
@Fifty Shades of Sé: you’re saying straight men aren’t interested in fashion?
Considering I don’t know what ‘fast fashion ‘ means I’ll go ahead and say no
@Peter Pistolé: lol…i look at the price
@Peter Pistolé: I don’t know what it is either. From the article it says people throw out perfectly good clothes after a few weeks. That seems extremely dumb to me…… Hence this fast fashion is for dumb people…… Thats why you and and others have never heard of it…..
Go to Third World countries and you’ll see that almost everyone is wearing western cast-offs…the irony is that the cotton used to produce clothes is often grown in Africa, shipped to either East Asia or Latin America to made into T-shirts or Jeans, then shipped to Europe/North America, worn a few times, then sent back to Africa. It’s madness.
@Fifty Shades of Sé: It is called business, best thing ever happen to the world. Deal wit it !!
@cortisola: Why don’t you go pick cotton in Burkina Faso or work in a sweatshop in Bangladesh if you think they’re the best thing ever to happen?
I don’t even know what fashion is. I buy new clothes about once every two years. I buy good quality clothes that last.
I still have (and wear) a pair of jeans i bought when my son was born 11 years ago. The other half wants me to throw them out as there’s a small hole on the knee. What’s the problem with a little hole, as many new jeans i see in stores have holes in them?
I buy from charity shops, but I have the time to do that and have access to a lot of good charity shops, not everyone has that. Changed need to come at industry and policy level, not the consumer with low wages.
@Maggie Corrigan: Me too, I haven’t bought a new item of clothing in years. Like yourself, I have an abundance of really good charity shops on my doorstep so it’s easy to get whatever I need for myself and the kids. My husband also shops in charity shops. I’m a bit of a bargain hunter and love the fact that I can get really good quality, designer labels for peanuts.
@Maggie Corrigan: You talk communism @Maggie. Capitalism is all about privatisation of profit and nationalisation of costs. And capitalism is our religion.
Women should really think about the reasons why these high street clothes are so cheap, where they come from and the exploitation involved in production of the garments.(other women and children)
@David Sinclair: fair point but men should do the same. Penny’s has a men’s section too. I’m sure there is exploitation of men in the production of cheap clothing. Women and men share the same planet, which we are destroying with our over consumption. It’s not just women and children involved, or who need to take note, it’s all of us.
@David Sinclair: All those stores have thriving men’s departments too. So it’s not just women.
@Catherine Sims: I don’t like to generalise, but I went into Penney’s once, the place was like Calcutta Train Station at rush hour but there were only a handful of guys and they had all been dragged there by their girlfriends.
For women shopping is therapeutic – for your average bloke it’s like a walk to the gallows.
@Joan Ryan: Mens clothing is generally made of less synthetic material and they buy a lot less. The spandex and other synthetic stretch materials are mostly women’s clothing. Tights alone are a huge problem and not many men wear them.
@David Sinclair: The generalising that is going on here is ridiculous. Remarkable how it’s perfectly acceptable to make sweeping determinations about an entire gender. There are plenty of examples, on both sides, of people that both love and loathe shopping. (I loathe it)
But it’s just so much easier to decide every single member of one gender is the same based on stereotypes.
@Kal: just one look on the roads and you can see men are buying lycra and spandex or whatever it is by the bucket load to look ridiculous.
@Tricia Golden: ya generalisations about groups of people are horrible. Damn those straight white men always generalising everything.
@David Sinclair: women?
@Tricia Golden: I don’t have a problem admitting that most violent Crime and almost all sexual crime is committed by men because it would be idiotic to deny that. Why can’t women admit they spend a lot more money on clothes than men?
@Catherine Sims: In the US the average department store devotes seven times as much floor space to women’s clothing as it does to men’s. I believe it is somewhat similar here. Take a walk around your nearest store and you will see what I mean.
I don’t agree with buying something and only wearing it once.
It needs to be worn until it either doesn’t fit or has holes or noticeable stains in it (after washing).
The basics – plain t-shirts, socks, underwear, I buy from cheap chain stores.
Anything else I try and source from vintage clothing stores. Bought a fab 70′s leather coat last week. I will carefully wear it then sell back for someone else to enjoy. You no longer see well made clothes like that coat – even high end stores often stock badly cut/cheap material or simply bad items.. go the vintage or charity shop route.
I recently started to look on the material label when I buy clothing. I make sure to buy clothing made from natural materials, such as cotton, wool, cashmere etc. I don’t care about brands though. The reason I do this is not really environmental, but more because the clothing lasts longer, it keeps me warmer, and it is healthier for the body. . Natural is not always more expensive. Cotton tights for example are cheaper than nylon.
Yes, mainly because i associate cheap disposable products and clothing with sweatshops and exploitation
Don’t forget about the likes of “Nike” too! Plenty of men/boys are buying and wearing “Nike” products. Lots of exploitation there!
Does buying 30 pairs of reduced price boxer shorts in Penney’s for 50c each (€15 total price) in order to have a 5 year supply count as fast fashion?
If I had the money I’d source my clothes using fairtrade principles and buy hemp clothing instead of cotton!
But until then the bargain bin in Penney’s is where my “fast fashion” will come from!
What do the religious people say about Vanity???
Bought myself a magee tweed jacket a couple of weeks ago hoping it will last me years.
@ed: Yep. I’ve always bought for life too. I’m allergic to synthetic materials too. I’m wearing a pair of barbour moleskin trousers I bought in 1984 and still many years left in them and they’ve been worn hard too. I have tweeds of the same vintage too. Can’t be beaten and nice to know we aren’t part of the problem.
Good ol’ “Depeche Mode”…
Globalism, tearing the fabric of the world apart….
I am unfashionably fashionable myself
I buy good quality socks and jocks on sale or from tkmax , everything else after that comes from pennys or sale racks or online from China.
I don’t buy ‘fast fashion’ whatever that is. I buy cheap and fashionable clothes and second-hand shoes in the charity shops. No need to suss out the high brand shops.
I’d actually be lost without the likes of Penneys
Some of the high Street brands have some really nice and reasonably priced ethical clothes, like H&M Conscious and Zara for life.
I voted NO even though I am not sure what ‘fast fashion’ means. I’ m just anti-fashion. People who follow fashion don’t have minds of their own.
I make no effort not to buy fast fashion.
NO
@Bruce Miller: after fossil fuels, isn’t the fashion industry the biggest contributor to pollution in the world
No. It’s great.
Is Penney’s fast fashion?
I purchase quality. It lasts for years and is timeless. One Julien Vard leather coat I have since about 1995 and is still like new.
fake news! now we have fake polls. What is fast fashion when it’s at home?
have your say