Hopeful news from the world of HIV/AIDS research:
… U.S. government scientists have discovered three powerful antibodies, the strongest of which neutralizes 91% of HIV strains, more than any AIDS antibody yet discovered.
[…]
The antibodies were discovered in the cells of a 60-year-old African-American gay man, known in the scientific literature as Donor 45, whose body made the antibodies naturally.
As William Gibson put it on Twitter: “They found J.D. Shapely! Off to Colored People for a celebratory backpiece! :-D”
(If you’re not grokking the reference, you should make time to read Gibson’s Virtual Light.)
And here’s a bonus line from the little article there, that puts the incredible amount of work involved in this sort of research into perspective:
Researchers screened 25 million of his cells to find 12 that produced the antibodies.
That is one mad tiny needle in a huge meat haystack, right there.
Amazing!
Interesting, isn’t it, that the human body itself came up with the antibody. Evolution through diversity right before our eyes.