writing in the journal Nature, says that the US
National Institute of Health (NIH) and the Department of Defense (DoD)
compete, rather than collaborate.
Citing a $70 million NIH trial in Latin America and a $40 million DoD
trial in Thailand, involving a total of 27,000 volunteers, Moore writes:
"Both have conducted duplicate trials of many vaccine concepts...
usually more or less simultaneously ...surely there is a better way to
make progress."
And South African researcher Malegapuru Makgoba, writing in the British
Medical Journal, says: "A vaccine could be seven to ten years away
if things go well, but if we fail...future generations will judge us harshly."
page 3 of 8
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Seaweed gel stops HIV
The slime from a slippery red seaweed may be an effective microbicide
- a substance that stops HIV entering the body during sex. Human clinical
trials of carrageenan are to begin in South Africa and Botswana later
this year.
The carrageen seaweed, Chondrus crispus, is also known as Irish moss or
dulse. It is a traditional dish in Ireland and carrageenan is already
used as a thickening agent in food.
Now scientists have discovered that if applied vaginally an hour before sex, carrageen appears to block the absorption of HIV. It is thought to act as a physical barrier, coating both HIV and target cells with an impenetrable layer. In animal studies it has also blocked infections with the herpes and genital wart viruses and the
gonorrhoea bacterium. Unlike other microbicides it does not alter the
