"Altering the AIDS Virus"

Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1990. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

"Altering the AIDS Virus"

Discover (06/90) Vol. 11, No. 6, P. 14

Abstract: A recent article in the journal Science contained a "note of caution concerning...biosafety measures" when culturing HIV. The note, from Robert Gallo, suggested that lab experiments might create airborne viral variants. The note caused widespread concern because it described an AIDS virus altered by coinfection with a mouse leukemia virus. The hybrid had the ability to infect immune system cells not ordinarily susceptible to HIV. Gallo himself, however, downplays the airborne transmission possibility. Although influenza, cold, and Epstein-Barr viruses can spread through the air, "it would be a onetime risk," Gallo said, because the viruses are not genetically altered and cannot pass the superficial changes on to offspring. Other researchers discount the possibility even more. Mixed viruses have been around for two decades, and "there's no evidence that they've ever traveled through the air," said Howard Temin, Nobel Prize winning virologist. "The enemy we know is bad enough without worrying about hobgoblins.

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