Full Circle

Science marches on:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Scientists have created a strain of the human AIDS virus able to infect and multiply in monkeys in a step toward testing future vaccines in monkeys before trying them in people, according to a new study.

How many people realize that HIV (Human immunodeficiency virus) is a crossover from SIV (Simian immunodeficiency virus)?

The origin of HIV is now generally attributed to SIV from African primates. HIV-2 is most closely related to SIVsm, the SIV strain that primarily infects Sooty Mangabeys, while HIV-1 is closely related to the chimpanzee strain of SIV, designated SIVcpz.

Apes and monkeys have had SIV for generations, and even if primitives hunted them for food, the disease was not one that affected humans. The moment SIV was successfully altered into HIV occurred in a Johannesburg, Africa research lab by "scientists" looking for a CURE for SIV.

So now our scientists have successfully created a strain of HIV that can infect monkeys. Wowzers. Full circle... with stupid but well-meaning scientists responsible for 100% of the causes and the consequences, just like the idiot in South America that released the African killer bees onto the entire American continent. He was another well-meaning but criminally careless scientist looking for ways to increase honey production, but ended up causing hundreds of deaths and forcing the expenditure of billions in efforts to combat the spread of these insects.

A lot of people would call that going back to square one... or worse.

Or, as others put it... the road to hell is paved with good intentions.