possible mutation or just wrong information.
Feb 7, 2013
hi doctor i know that all viruses can mix and mutated with the same kind of virus (not with other types of viruses). but i read an article that said that hiv had mutated with a naturally mice virus because of the experiments in a model AIDS mouse. But in that article says that animal hiv experiments are not accurate and provide unreliable and wrong information, so im confused, that mutation did happen or it was a wrong information?
article Source: Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) - Good Medicine Source date: 12/1/1996 Summary: p12-13, "AIDS Animal Experiments are a Wrong Turn" by Ronald Allison, MD.
Allison explains the discovery of HIV and the development of drugs to enhance AIDS patients' quality of life and longer survival came from human testing, clinical observation and in vitro research rather than animal tests.
Allison writes, "Along with continued in-vitro studies, close clinical evaluation of long-term HIV survivors offer an important way to understand the disease and hopefully create effective therapies, something animal experiments are unlikely to deliver." Animal experiments suggested that HIV was slowly progressive, with long latent periods needing only periodic care. However, examination of human patients revealed high viral replication at all times, requiring early, active intervention.
Allison writes, "Animal experiments have provided unreliable and outright wrong information." A highly touted mouse model of AIDS produced a new, potentially infectious virus bearing little resemblance to human HIV. HIV mutated in the presence of a naturally occurring mouse virus and scientists feared it could become airborne from nasal secretions.
Response from Dr. Young
I'm not sure what your question is, but I'd not use a 1996 article as statement of the state of the art.
Not all viruses can can mix with others; on the other hand many viruses' mutation rate is high and allows for adaptation and the emergence of drug resistance.
For the best source of published (and current) research studies, I'd suggest using PubMed from the National Library of Medicine.
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