Is Stem Cell therapy the cure for HIV?

I am a fan of technology. For me, advances in technology serves as the foundation for the great transition: From the mass based top-bottom social phenomenon known as the industrial age to the niche and specialization based bottom-up dynamic called the information age-digital economy. 

So when I encounter what appears as potential breakthroughs, I post them here.

Is Stem Cell therapy the cure for HIV?

From Reuters:

Two men with HIV have been off AIDS drugs for several months after receiving stem-cell transplants for cancer that appear to have cleared the virus from their bodies, researchers reported on Wednesday.

Both patients, who were treated in Boston and had been on long-term drug therapy to control their HIV, received stem-cell transplants after developing lymphoma, a type of blood cancer.

Since the transplants, doctors have been unable to find any evidence of HIV infection, Timothy Henrich of Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston told an International AIDS Society conference in Kuala Lumpur.

While it is too early to say for sure that the virus has disappeared from their bodies altogether, one patient has now been off antiretroviral drug treatment for 15 weeks and the other for seven weeks.

Last July Henrich first reported that the two men had undetectable levels of HIV in their blood after their stem-cell treatment, but at that time they were still taking medicines to suppress HIV.

Using stem-cell therapy is not seen as a viable option for widespread use, since it is extremely expensive, but the latest cases could open new avenues for fighting the disease, which infects about 34 million people worldwide.

There are many implications from these developments whether social, moral, commercial and etc…, nonetheless stem cell technology could just one be significant area for advances in healthcare.

Is The Island of Dr Moreau Becoming a Reality?

In a creepy parallel to the H.G. Wells’ science fiction novel “The Island of Doctor Moreau”, UK’s public and independent schools have secretly “created more than 150 human-animal hybrid”

From the Daily Mail,

Scientists have created more than 150 human-animal hybrid embryos in British laboratories.

The hybrids have been produced secretively over the past three years by researchers looking into possible cures for a wide range of diseases.

The revelation comes just a day after a committee of scientists warned of a nightmare ‘Planet of the Apes’ scenario in which work on human-animal creations goes too far.

Last night a campaigner against the excesses of medical research said he was disgusted that scientists were ‘dabbling in the grotesque’.

Figures seen by the Daily Mail show that 155 ‘admixed’ embryos, containing both human and animal genetic material, have been created since the introduction of the 2008 Human Fertilisation Embryology Act.

This legalised the creation of a variety of hybrids, including an animal egg fertilised by a human sperm; ‘cybrids’, in which a human nucleus is implanted into an animal cell; and ‘chimeras’, in which human cells are mixed with animal embryos.

Scientists say the techniques can be used to develop embryonic stem cells which can be used to treat a range of incurable illnesses.

Three labs in the UK – at King’s College London, Newcastle University and Warwick University – were granted licences to carry out the research after the Act came into force.

In the H.G. Well’s novel, Dr. Moreau was a scientist who conducted cruel experiments on animals attempting to create sentient beings out of animals

In the movie version (see above), Dr. Moreau embarked on using human DNA in animals to make them more humanlike and regress their animal instincts and make the divine human, free of malice and hatred. [Wikipedia]

In the fictional story, the experiment was conducted by a deranged doctor at a mythical island. In the above, similar experiments are being done by government personnel at legally mandated (public and independent) schools in UK.

If the story line ends the way as the novel played out, where their stealth experiments goes awry, then maybe we should expect zombies, Godzilla, King Kong, Mothra, satyrs, the abominable snowman, hydra, the Minotaur, the Kraken and other fictional or mythical monsters come to life. L.O.L.!