sa smith

Listen, nobody thinks the guy who 'cured Charlie Sheen of HIV' cured Charlie Sheen of HIV. Even Charlie Sheen. Dr Sam I was with u in Mexico for 1 day. It's illegal for u to practice in U.S.A. where u treated me for 2 months © https://t.co/lKv6YPYdhm — Charlie Sheen (@charliesheen) February 1, 2016…

ERV-->TMZ? No, this is an education and outreach opportunity, and I want to use it to the best of my ability as an HIV researcher. 1-- I am so glad Charlie Sheen got tested for HIV. Most people who should be, dont, because even faced with a treatable, deadly disease, denial is *incredibly*…

April 7, 2010: Using HSV-1 to cure metastatic melanoma May 26, 2015: WHOOOO!!!!! GMO HSV-1 vs Cancer October 27, 2015: FDA approves first-of-its-kind product for the treatment of melanoma Skin cancer is the most common form of cancer in the United States. Melanoma, one type of skin cancer, is the…

Theyre figuring out what the heck is going on in the saga of ERVs and ALS! 2011: ERVs and ALS 2015: Human endogenous retrovirus-K contributes to motor neuron disease 1-- Of the many ERVs in your genome, the ones they found activated in the brains of people with ALS are HERV-Ks, at two positions:…

AHHH!!! 2011-- FreeOK, I give a talk vaccines, including a bit on herd immunity, and why it is important for everyone, including those of us who are not immunocompromised. 2013-- Started a new job! Had a ton of bloodwork done to get baseline readings, just in case I get exposed to another pathogen…

I love this. I love this so much. Jim Carrey and his anti-vax comrades know literally nothing about vaccines, how they are developed, and how they work. Vaccines do not cause autism. ... But... what if a vaccine *did* end up having a pretty 'bad' side-effect (outside of something expected, high…

So the guy who faked some HIV research results is officially going to spend about five years in jail, and has to pay back $7 million. Former ISU scientist's stiff fraud sentence sends message Yeah. It does send a message. The message is "The US government is not going to really investigate any of…

WHOOOOOOOO!!!! April 7, 2010: Using HSV-1 to cure metastatic melanoma May 26, 2015: Talimogene Laherparepvec Improves Durable Response Rate in Patients With Advanced Melanoma WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! They just published the results of Phase III clinical trials of a herpes simplex-1 genetically…

One of my favorite stories is the tale of a GMO virus deployed to treat Hemophilia B: Gene therapy for Hemophilia B ... Hemophilia B is a disease in males caused by point mutations/deletions/etc in the clotting Factor IX gene. If you dont make Factor IX, you wont clot properly, and will have all of…

You all know me. There are two things I really love: Studying HIV Using viruses for gene therapy One would think I would be over-the-moon about the FDA approving human trials for a gene therapy to stop HIV. HIV! Gene therapy! YAY!! With HIV Cure as the Goal, Gene Therapy Research Expands When…

This past weekend I hung out at a brand-spanking new con, the Atlanta SciFi and Fantasy Expo. Made a bunch of new friends-- including the proud owner of an actual T.A.R.D.I.S. Randy and I had a marvelous time talking about ghosts, yetis, and vaccines/viruses. I sent him a link to my FreeOK talks…

A paper was recently brought to my attention via a Creationist. It was the usual 'HAHAHA! Oh you silly Creationist! This paper says the opposite of what you think it says!', and I was going to write a blog post along that usual theme. Fazale Rana, 'Vice President' of 'Research and Apologetics' at…

Ive mentioned this technology on ERV before: Saving the American Chestnut tree from extinction with GMOs Well the scientists involved think they have finally done it. They have finally made American Chestnut trees resistant to the blight that is literally driving the species to extinction:…

New, weird, out-of-left-field, ideas-- we need them to stop HIV. This one makes sense, in retrospect, but I wouldnt have thought to try what these folks did: Targeting α4β7 integrin reduces mucosal transmission of simian immunodeficiency virus and protects gut-associated lymphoid tissue from…

Five kids in the first trial. Then eleven. Now thirty (ultimately 39): Chimeric Antigen Receptor T Cells for Sustained Remissions in Leukemia Slowly but surely, HIV genetically modified to genetically modify relapsed acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) patients T-cells are prolonging (saving?) kids…

Want a unique gift for your sciency-nerdy-geeky-gamer friends this holiday season? Ethan shared a list of his favorite ugly gamer sweaters, and I want to share a list of some things I like: Geeky/Sciency Pendants: OrfebreEvolution, including the 'Lady Knights' designs by Ryan Grant Long Geeky art:…

For some reason, pop news became enamored with this paper last month (unfortunately while I was away at a conference): HIV infection en route to endogenization: two cases Inexplicable media frenzy-- Scientists find mechanism for spontaneous HIV cure French scientists find genetic mechanism by which…

I write about lots of things on ERV, but I didnt anticipate ever getting to the point where I can write new blog posts on new publications by cutting and pasting from old blog posts on old papers... Lots of news outlets have been talking about this new paper: Impact of HLA-driven HIV adaptation on…

Attention those of you in the Atlanta area! The students in Kennesaw State University Atheists United have invited Richard Dawkins to speak on campus, and they are opening up their event to the public! Tickets are available for purchase HERE!   Im gonna get him to sign our Nightwish poster!!!   :-D

The title of this article by Answers In Genesis is a good question: Where Did Ebola Come From? *shrug* Look, I love making fun of Creationists, but this is a great question! Ebola is not 'supposed' to be a human pathogen. Like many emerging infectious diseases, the natural reservoir for ebola is…

Remember how I said my lab wanted to do a PPE response video to Sanjay Guptas terrifying attempt? But we couldnt for liability reasons? Now there is an even better option! We can all take a peek into how Ebola patients are treated at Emory University, and get to see their protocols for putting on/…

October 2012, I got to see Nightwish at a small venue in OKC. 1-- This was one of the first nights Floor Jansen was officially the New Singer for Nightwish. She blew me away. 2-- This was a *tiny* venue. Nightwish fills huge stadiums and auditoriums all over the world, but OKC? Teeny venue. And…

Some time last Tuesday, that strange sound you heard was thousands of scientists screaming in agony, and smashing their heads against the nearest keyboard/desk/wall. Good lord, Sanjay. Good lord. What is wrong with you? This video is like the scientific equivalent of 'Two girls one cup'. After you…

On an academic level, I am not a fan of bacteria. I like viruses. Thus, I usually like the idea of using viruses to kill bacteria. But I am a huge fan of fecal bacteriotherapy, aka, poop transplants. Someone is sick, they get antibiotics. Antibiotics kill off their 'normal' bacteria, and allow 'bad…

You get the data when you get the data, but the information we get from this study would have been useful several years ago: Persistence of Virus Reservoirs in ART-Treated SHIV-Infected Rhesus Macaques after Autologous Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplant The Berlin Patient-- Guy gets HIV, develops a…

For quite a while, now, there has been a connection between Endogenous Retroviruses and HIV. For some unknown reason, some of the young ERVs in humans, the ones that can still code for a protein here and there, are reactivated in HIV+ patients. Scientists have found ERV RNA in HIV+ patient plasma,…

LOL! Former blag-brother Kevin, along some friends from Harvard, have an independent website set up for educating the public about immunology: Emmunity.org They have a page I will link to many times in the future, describing the basic cellular components of the immune system, as well as another…

This is not, in any way, a 'clean' blog. But I cannot type my genuine reaction to this news: Shift of HIV Tropism in Stem-Cell Transplantation with CCR5 Delta32 Mutation I have not stopped cussing since I heard about this. God dammit, HIV. God DAMMIT. We had ONE THING. ONE THING that WORKED to CURE…

You all might remember, Judy Mikovits and Age of Autism contributor Ken Heckenlively, were releasing a book on 'their side' of the XMRV fiasco (the scientific side of the XMRV fiasco). Plague: One Scientist’s Intrepid Search for the Truth about Human Retroviruses and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome,…

One wonderful thing that has come two US citizens being infected Ebola (and successfully treated for the disease) is *education* the general public is getting about this, frankly, 'scary' virus. Im not talking about the bizarre nonsense/missed opportunity posted by Sanjay Gupta and his 'producer' …