Pregnancy test but for viruses? Mini droplet-based diagnostics tests combined with CRISPR may offer a way forward for fast, mass-testing of not just SARS-CoV-2, but hundreds of other viruses as the same time.
Continue reading CRISPR and Droplets offer a new way forward in viral diagnostics?
by Jordan Wilkerson figures by Aparna Nathan Every morning when I wake up, I take a swig of water and swallow a blue pill. I don’t have an illness that the drug is treating. In fact, I’m quite healthy. I take the pill to keep from getting ill. Referred to as PrEP, or Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis, the pill protects me from potential infection by the infamous … Continue reading What’s in My Morning Pill?
We have come a long way in treating HIV over the past two decades. By following a strict drug regimen, an HIV positive patient can stave off the onset of AIDS for many years. These drugs are expensive, however, and they come with side-effects. Furthermore, noncompliance with the drug regimen can have serious and long-lasting impacts on the patient’s health. Preventing HIV infection is both … Continue reading PrEP: Preventing HIV Infection Before It Starts
Infectious diseases — including HIV, tuberculosis, and malaria — are a leading cause of death worldwide, particularly in low income countries and among young children. A new study found that the vaccines aimed to prevent many of the world’s most deadly diseases may not be developed any time soon. The study, funded by the Gates Foundation and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, focused on 538 … Continue reading Vaccines for World’s Most Deadly Infectious Diseases Unlikely
by Fernanda Ferreira figures by Brad Wierbowski Every day 140 Americans die from an opioid overdose. To confront the crisis, not only must opioid addiction treatment become more readily available, but new and improved forms of treatment must also be developed. Dr. Carl Alving, whose life work has been to develop an HIV vaccine, never planned on investigating novel systems for treating opioid addiction. But … Continue reading Can We Treat Heroin Addiction and HIV with a Single Vaccine?
Gaeten Dugas, the man who received the title “Patient Zero” for supposedly bringing HIV/AIDS into the United States, has been cleared. Dugas was a Canadian flight attendant who contracted and died of AIDS soon after the disease first appeared in the US. The book And the Band Played On paints a sinister picture of his role in the early AIDS epidemic, leading many to suspect … Continue reading Genetic Evidence Exonerates HIV’s “Patient Zero”
by Rose Filoramo figures by Daniel Utter A Report that Changed History On June 5th, 1981, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released a medical report documenting something peculiar: within the span of one year, five previously healthy men from Los Angeles were all diagnosed with an incredibly rare lung infection. Scientists and health professionals were baffled. The infection normally only affected people … Continue reading How Vitamin A May Bring Us Closer to a Cure for AIDS