HIV
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Stanford's HIV and cancer test detects their presence earlier
A new technique to detect HIV and cancer developed by a team of Stanford chemists could save lives. It's a lot more sensitive than current screening tools, and hence has the power to detect diseases much earlier. As you know, the earlier an illness is detected, the more treatable it is. Like many other screening tests, this one also works by fishing for antibodies our immune system produces when it detects diseases using molecules with "flags" attached to them.
Medicated vaginal ring can reduce risk of HIV infection
A special type of vaginal ring that continuously releases an experimental antiretroviral drug called dapivirine could help protect women from HIV. Two separate groups of scientists conducted experiments in Africa (where there's a high prevalence of HIV infection) over the past few years, and they've both revealed their results recently. Nonprofit org International Partnership for Microbicides funded the team that conducted the "The Ring Study." This group found that the $5 silicone rings reduced the risk of HIV infection by 37 percent among its 1,959 subjects from South Africa and Uganda.
UN says dating apps helped foster a teen HIV epidemic
Dating apps certainly have their virtues, but a new UN study suggests that they could sometimes play a big role in spreading sexually transmitted diseases. The report finds that dating apps helped spread an HIV epidemic among teens in the Asia-Pacific region by facilitating more casual sex. Effectively, they created networks where infections could quickly spread -- one HIV-positive person could easily affect numerous lives.
DNA nanomachine detects HIV antibodies in minutes, not hours
Current methods for detecting the antibodies that indicate HIV infection are agonizingly slow and cumbersome. However a new DNA nanomachine developed by an international team of researchers (and funded, in part, by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation) could shorten the process to a matter of minutes.
Scientists can watch HIV spread through a mouse in real time
Scientists have long been perplexed by HIV's ability to spread through the body - until now, that is. A team of medical researchers from Yale University have for the first time recorded the retrovirus' movement through a mouse host.
First home HIV test goes on sale in Britain
Although sexual health has become less of a taboo subject, ensuring that people get tested for STDs remains a big issue. The NHS now offers DIY kits for those worried they might have caught something from a partner and don't want to get tested by a doctor, but home HIV screening has not been possible -- at least until today. Britain's first legally-approved HIV test is now on sale, promising 99.7 percent accuracy from three months after a person suspects they may have been exposed to the infection. It requires a drop of blood and can provide a clear result in around 15 minutes.
Smartphone accessory puts HIV diagnosis in doctors' pockets
People living in far-flung locations, especially in developing nations, could always use affordable tests for various diseases that enable remote diagnosis. Take for instance, this new two-part biosensing platform developed by a team of scientists from Florida Atlantic University, which can detect E. coli, staph and even HIV with just a drop of the patient's blood. We say "two-part," because it's comprised of (1) a cheap, thin, flexible film and (2) a smartphone app. Each film detects a different disease, which it identifies from the patient's blood. If the bacteria or virus being tested for is present, the blood gets dyed a different color by nanoparticles.
Brazil used Tinder bots to promote AIDS awareness
Despite what Tinder execs say, everyone knows what the app's actually used for (hint: it's casual sex), which explains why the Brazilian government (Portuguese) has used the mobile app to spread the word about AIDS. It also brought Hornet, an app aimed at gay males, into the fold and created accounts on each in an effort to raise awareness for condom use. The faux profiles were for three men and two ladies who're pretty open about their interest in prophylactic-free intercourse, and, should a Brazilian match with any of them, they'll immediately get a message warning them about the risks of unprotected sex. Given the country's struggles with the disease, hopefully it's effective.
Test for HIV in just 15 minutes with this $34 smartphone dongle
A dongle created by Columbia University researchers can turn any smartphone (whether iPhones or Android devices) into an HIV and syphilis tester. Even better, it only takes 15 minutes and a tiny drop of blood to get a result -- the device doesn't even need a battery to work. According to the paper the researchers published in Science Translational Medicine, the dongle performs enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) to detect HIV antibody, treponemal-specific antibody for syphilis, and non-treponemal antibody for active syphilis infection. Labs don't currently offer the three tests needed to detect those in a single format. ELISA machines, by the way, cost around $18,000, but each of these dongles only cost around $34 to manufacture.
This is a game about the realities of living with HIV
Hi, my name is Tim and I just learned I'm HIV positive. Not me personally, but, as the character Tim I played in I'm Positive, a short interactive narrative about living with the human immunodeficiency virus. It started out simply enough: I was shooting baskets when a phone call interrupted my jump shots. It was an ex girlfriend telling me that she'd been diagnosed as HIV positive after giving blood, and she urged me to get tested as soon as possible. Maybe it's because getting tested has been on my mind anyhow or possibly because I shared a name with the protagonist (there aren't any custom-name options; everyone plays as Tim), but after I "hung up" the phone I felt a weight in my chest and an all-too-real sense of panic.
Engadget Daily: NVIDIA's Shield Tablet, Atari's 'Pridefest' and more!
Today, we take a look at NVIDIA's new Shield Tablet, investigate Atari's future with the LGBT community, ponder an Apple smartwatch patent and learn about a potential HIV breakthrough. Read on for Engadget's news highlights from the last 24 hours.
Researchers fully 'delete' HIV from human cells for the first time
So far, HIV has eluded a cure because it installs its genome into human DNA so insidiously that it's impossible for our immune system to clear it out. While current treatments are effective, a lifetime of toxic drugs is required to prevent its recurrence. But researchers from Temple University may have figured out a way to permanently excise it using a highly-engineered HIV "editor." Here's how it works: the team analyzed a part of our immune system that fights infection and built a "guide RNA" strand consisting of 20 nucleotides (RNA building blocks). Those strands were then injected into cells typically infected with HIV, like T-cells. There, they targeted the end parts of the virus's gene and snipped out all 9,709 nucleotides that made up its genome. Since the guide RNA strand contained no human DNA sequences, it left the host cell intact -- but free from HIV.
Online gamers solve microbiology puzzle, contribute to anti-HIV solutions
Hey guys, look! Gamers are good for something! After struggling for some time to successfully map the structure of M-PMV, "a protein involved in a virus that causes a form of simian AIDS," scientists decided to hand the task off into more capable hands. Unfortunately, the only hands they could find were those of online gamers. Always willing to rise to a challenge, however, the gamers didn't disappoint. Through the use of a program called Foldit, which takes the mapping of molecular structures and transforms them into a sort of puzzle game, gamers (particularly a group calling themselves the Foldit Contenders) were able to successfully map the protein. Scientists hope that the crowdsourced solution can be used to design new drugs, such as treatments for HIV. Way to prove our worth to society, folks. You've made us proud.
$1 chip tests for HIV in 15 minutes flat, fits in your wallet
Getting tested for STDs used to mean a doctor's visit, vials of blood, and days, weeks, or even months of anxiously waiting for results. mChip aims to change all that, while simultaneously ridding your brain of viable excuses not to get tested. It works as such: one drop of blood goes on the microfluidics-based optical chip, 15 minutes pass, and boom, the AmEx-sized device will confirm whether or not you have syphilis and / or HIV. The bantam gizmo is practically foolproof, as reading the results doesn't require any human interpretation whatsoever. Plus, it's cheap -- cheaper than a coffee at Starbucks. One dollar cheap. Researchers at Columbia University claim the mChip has a 100 percent detection rate, although there's a four to six percent chance of getting a false positive -- a stat similar to traditional lab tests. As you'd likely expect, there's hope that the inexpensive mChip will help testing efforts in places like Africa to detect HIV before it turns into AIDS. Next stop: the self-service pharmacy at CVS?
Carbon nanotubes used to more easily detect cancer cells, HIV
Cancer's not slowing its march to ruining as many lives as it possibly can, so it's always pleasing to hear of any new developments that act as hurdles. The latest in the world of disease-prevention comes from Harvard University, where researches have created a dime-sized carbon nanotube forest (read: lots of nanotubes, like those shown above) that can be used to trap cancer cells when blood passes through. A few years back, Mehmet Toner, a biomedical engineering professor at Harvard, created a device similar to the nano-forest that was less effective because silicon was used instead of carbon tubes. Today, Toner has teamed up with Brian Wardle, associate professor of aeronautics and astronautics at MIT, who together have redesigned the original microfluid device to work eight times more efficiently than its predecessor. The carbon nanotubes make diagnosis a fair bit simpler, largely because of the antibodies attached to them that help trap cancer cells as they pass through -- something that's being tailored to work with HIV as well. Things are starting to look moderately promising for cancer-stricken individuals, as hospitals have already began using the original device to detect malignant cells and ultimately prevent them from spreading -- here's hoping it's qualified for mass adoption sooner rather than later.
Yale gets $4 million grant for HIV avoidance game
A group of pupils at Yale University recently received a grant from the (deep breath) Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, which will help fund development of a video game which teaches youngsters how to avoid contracting HIV. The game, Retro-Warriors, will be designed with a multicultural focus, so that it can be used to teach young people across the globe how to identify and eschew risky behaviors. It's not the first time someone's proposed such a project -- however, considering the aforementioned grant was for $3.9 million, it might be the most well-funded educational game of all time. We're fully expecting top-of-the-line graphics, a score by Hans Zimmer and some measure of involvement from Nolan North. For more information on what the game will actually be like, check out this CNS News article. [Via GamePolitics]
Cellphone hacked to analyze blood, detect diseases on the spot
Not that the whole using-cellphones-for-disease-detection is completely fresh, but the latest handset hack for medical purposes is still mighty impressive. UCLA researcher Dr. Aydogan Ozcan has essentially converted a standard cellphone into a portable blood tester of sorts, which is capable of detecting HIV, malaria and various other illnesses. Put as simply as possible, the device works by analyzing blood cells that are placed on an integrated off-the-shelf camera sensor and lit up with a filtered light source. Said light source exposes unique qualities of the cells, and from there, the doc's homegrown software interprets the data and determines what's what. So, has anyone given this guy the main line to NTT DoCoMo, or what?[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Lining up for Charity
Out of all of the hype surrounding the imminent launch of the iPhone, this is the first story to warm my cold socialist heart. Johnny Vulkan of NYC ad agency Anomaly is first in line at the Apple Store SoHo, and has special plans for his iPhone. Instead of coveting his precious new toy like the rest of us, his iPhone will go right up on eBay where all proceeds from its sale will go to AIDS charity Keep a Child Alive.If game console launches like that of the Wii and PS3 are any indication, early iPhone sellers on eBay stand to make a killing, and it's nice to see that some of that money will be going to an organization working to stop a nasty virus from doing the same. [via BoingBoing]
Help mtvU design AIDS Awareness game, win $5,000
In an effort to promote discussion and raise awareness of AIDS as a problem, mtvU and the Kaiser Family Foundation have begun Change the Course of HIV Challenge, a contest "aimed at reducing the spread of HIV/AIDS among young people in the United States."The full rules can be found on the contest main page. Entrants need not make the game themselves but are expected to have a fleshed-out idea that meets the listed criteria. The winner will receive $5,000 and the chance to help mtvU create the final game. Those with a few brilliant ideas and the determination to make a design need to complete the application form by March 16.Last year's contest, where entrants were asked to make a game about the crisis in Sudan, spawned the oft-discussed title Darfur is Dying. You can play the game here.[Via Game Politics]
