AIDS vaccine put on hold

The National Institutes of Health in the US is ditching funding for a controversial new AIDS vaccine.

Made by Franco-German pharmaceutical giant Aventis Pasteur, the vaccine consists of HIV genes fused to a harmless bird virus that acts as a carrier to deliver those genes to the immune system. The NIH was all set to begin a US$80 million clinical trial, but pulled the plug when they discovered that the vaccine produces a much smaller immune response in preliminary test subjects than anticipated.

In fine US government tradition, the military will now take responsibility for independently testing a slightly different version of the vaccine.

Anthrax laid bare

To better help the US government in its war on terror, The Institute for Genomic Research (TIGR) in Rockville, Maryland is embarking on sequencing the genomes of 20 different strains of Bacillus anthrasis, the bacterium that causes anthrax.

Sequencing the entire genome of any organism used to be a huge ordeal, but in this post-human-genome age, decoding the genetic makeup of a humble bacterium can be done for about US$150,000 with McDonald’s-like efficiency.

By sequencing so many strains, scientists hope to compare the data and discover why some variants of anthrax are so much deadlier than others. This information could be used to build effective new vaccines to combat terrorist activity.

SUPER SCIENCE FACT

The decade we know as the 80s should be officially extended so that it encompasses the years 1980 to 1992 inclusive. I was watching this old VHS tape I found in my basement and it had that MC Hammer “Popcorn Chicken” ad on it from 1990. And I thought to myself, Jesus, this ad has a few too many neon pink blazers in it to take place in the same decade that launched grunge bands. Can we get a task force going on this please?