Word: goodness
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...declining menhaden population isn't the only concern swimming around fish-based omega-3 supplements. Mercury consumption is another, as are the needs of vegetarians. The good news there is that plant sources like flaxseed and canola oils have one of the omega-3 fatties, alpha-linolenic acid (ALA). The bad news is that they don't contain docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) or eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), the more important omega-3 nutrients. Our bodies can convert ALA into DHA and EPA, but the process is limited and slow. (See "The Year in Health 2009: From...
...National Institutes of Health (NIH). "It is constantly changing its genetic makeup through mutations. It's also a moving target because the proteins of the virus surface are actually moving themselves - they are conformationally flexible. The net result is that the immune system never gets a really good look at them...
...ARVs focuses on thwarting just one of several different steps in HIV's infection process. Ibalizumab works at the critical juncture where the virus meets a healthy CD4 cell - a critical component of the immune system - essentially interposing itself between the two and preventing infection. If ibalizumab was so good at tamping down HIV in AIDS patients who were already infected, then maybe it could be tweaked to prevent AIDS in the first place. In other words, maybe it could become a vaccine - just a whole different kind of vaccine that bypassed the traditional, and frustrating, process of figuring...
That's the beautifully elegant scenario that attracted Ho to the antibody, but the problem is that tying up CD4 this way may not be such a good idea. Taking so many of the body's essential defense cells out of commission means the patient may be left vulnerable to any number of other infectious agents - exactly the immunocompromised position that AIDS patients are trying to avoid. That was the fear that Ho's lab members expressed when he broached the idea...
...takes more than instinct to make good science, of course, and Ho is keenly aware of that. But like a talented batter, he's hoping that a combination of intuition and technical skill will guide him to make contact. A solid hit would be nice - but Ho is still trying for a home...