Deseret News | Reader comments: BYU researchers help find cell harboring HIV

Reader comments
BYU researchers help find cell harboring HIV

It's a puzzle! | 8:49 a.m. May 14, 2008

It's a puzzle to me why we have spent millions and millions on this, when a little morality would solve the problem. That seems like the easiest cure!

Wait a minute... | 9:55 a.m. May 14, 2008

Now BYU is involved in the cover-up also?

The US government invented the AIDS virus to kill minorities.

Anonymous | 10:06 a.m. May 14, 2008

I didn't know "sinner" only got HIV. Interesting...

Comments continue below

RE:It's a puzzle | 10:07 a.m. May 14, 2008

Look in the mirror, your ignorance is showing. AIDS isn't always transmitted through immoral activities. Unborn babies can contract the virus from their mothers and are born with the disease. How is this scenario immoral? Also, I can tell that it has never occured to you that this research as well as other AIDS related research might lead to cures for other diseases. Yes, a little morality might help slow the problem, too bad it couldn't help slow the spread of ignorance.

What? | 11:30 a.m. May 14, 2008

Are BYU and Researchers really used in the same sentence?

Scott | 12:44 p.m. May 14, 2008

Saying that "It's a Puzzle" is ignorant isn't quite right. If EVERYONE practiced abstinence before marriage, it WOULD eventually eradicate (or nearly so) the AIDS virus. We would get the same eventual result if everyone practiced protected sex. Unfortunately, it's the general population that is ignorant, and it would be nearly impossible to cure the world from AIDS solely from teaching others to make correct choices. "Puzzle" may be overly optimistic in a moral solution, but I wouldn't call him ignorant. We need the research and the spread of knowledge both.

byudog | 3:05 p.m. May 14, 2008

As said-it's not merely a moral problem. That's an idealistic view of it, but one which will not solve the crisis anytime soon. People can get aids through natural means not involving moral choices, like a mother passing it to her child or a bad blood transfusion, etc.. drugs...

This is quite an excellent find by researchers at BYU and is another step closer to finding a way to actually "cure" the aids virus.

Eventually, it's going to be done. Will new forms mutate and beat existing drugs? Probably, but it just means more work to do. It's not some impossible solution that can't be solved.

Cheers to those at BYU making this discovery.

Optimistic in Colorado | 5:12 p.m. May 15, 2008

I agree that morality is a way to stop the spread of the disease... but we do not even know where it came from (it was not invented to kill minorities or anyone else...if the gov't could selectively do that...then some of the people who post comments would not be around.) It could always reimerge, so finding treatment is viable in my mind.

Great job BYU for improving on their outstanding record of practical discoveries. (This will continue to give the world a better understanding of the caliber of talented people who are Mormon and decrease the "Prairie Dress wearin" inbreads image.)

This knowledge will undoubtedly lead to cures for other viruses throughout the world. I am excited to learn more about where this knowledge leads.

what is wrong with all of you? | 10:54 a.m. May 16, 2008

This is a very interesting and potentially very important discovery (and yes, RESEARCH carried out in part by BYU scientists). How can you read this article and have your first thought be about the morality? It's called medical science!

Bart | 6:56 a.m. May 17, 2008

The good Lord must just shudder when he realizes the sanctimonious notions of some of his children. One must keep in mind that in many parts of the world where HIV is most prevalent, "sleeping around" is not a moral concern. But of course, in all of our LDS moral superiority, we must cast the stone. Shame on us. The Lord will remember.

Understanding | 8:59 p.m. May 18, 2008

There has always been a lot of questions about were aids came from. My personal belief is that they came from monkeys. If you test many of the chimps in africa, you will see that most of them are indeed infected with this virus. Over time these chimps have could I say gone through darwinism, survival of the fittest. Now those who have mutations in their CD4 lymphocytes no longer are targets of the virus carrying cells. Some humans also have a mutation in their CD4 receptors. This allows for that person to become could I say immune. They also most likely do have some CD4 cells, but because the immune system is mutated, their Lymphocyte counts stay at a normal level and so they never develop HIV or Aids. Some day if we exist long enough, much of our race will also be destroyed and only those who have the mutation or money will survive. Many will be carriers and the rest will die. The virus mutates too often for us to ever develop a vaccine. The chimps in africa went through this same thing years ago. Through hunting and mixing blood with these primates we became infected.

Anonymous | 12:15 a.m. May 19, 2008

Wel Done BYU keep up the good work & find akey to solve Aids problem all over the World May God bless all of you !!!

The Truth is Out There | 7:15 p.m. May 22, 2008

I believe Wait a Minute above is right. There is indeed a conspiracy afoot that goes right up to the highest levels of the U.S. government and part of it is the HIV/AIDS cover-up of which it is now highly possible, nay I say probable that BYU and thus by logical extension the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Mormon Church) are now involved in this inhuman plot of the mass murder of at least one significant minority group, homosexual and bisexual men. There is however no concrete proof of this. But there will eventually be. This particular cover-up has been going-on since at least the mid- 1950s. HIV is a man-made disease created by the U.S. government to commit murder.

Tom | 5:44 a.m. June 3, 2008

Two ideas are proposed in the preceding comments:

1) AIDS was intentionally developed to wipe out specific populations.

2) Morality will solve the problem.

In response, I offer:

1) Even if AIDS was intentionally spread by the US government, someone needs to stop the spread of AIDS. We can't stop a disease until we understand how it works. How can this conspiracy be stopped if no one researches a cure? There is no evidence of collusion or cover-up on the part of these researchers. Furthermore, if we automatically accuse everyone who tries to cure the disease of being part of a conspiracy, we will squelch the innocent researchers who REALLY want to find a cure. Those who do not want to find a cure will not find a cure, so we can ignore them.

2) Even if we could educate the world population on AIDS prevention, thousands of people would still engage in unsafe practices, and innocent people will still be affected. The moral need protection from the immoral!
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The bottom line is - AIDS is a major world problem. Many are working to solve it. Those of us who aren't should stand back and let them work!

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