|
|
 |
|
|
Join the Discussion
|
"Sometime in the 80s an ex-acquaintance was studying something along the lines of the applications of cybernetic engineering on neurological disorders in Louisiana. This was in med school. He told us that as part of his research he would go to the shelter and "get" (buy? adopt?) full grown cats and then his team would induce spinal cord injuries to the cats, rendering them paralized -- some paraplegic, some quadraplegic. They would then do brain surgery and attach electrodes in different areas of the brain, trying to see if they could establish an artificial "bridge" that would relay the electric impulses needed to command a muscle to move after nerves were severed or damaged."
COMPACTPOINT
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The following list of AIDS breakthroughs is from "Sacred Cows and Golden Geese," by C. Ray Greek, MD, and Jean Swingle Greek, DVM (in the book, the authors cite the original sources of the discoveries). Each discovery was the result of research that did not rely at all on animal models.
- First discovery of the AIDS condition
- Discovery that AIDS is transmitted via blood or bodily fluids
- Discovery of HIV virus
- Discovery of HIV virus shape
- Discovery that HIV virus is heterogeneous in size
- Discovery that HIV virus is surrounded by a lipid bilayer
- Discovery that HIV virus is initially produce as a cone-shaped center that
later matures to a cone-shaped core
(Discovery of the above properties is crucial for creation of a vaccine.)
- Detection of viral levels in AIDS patients
- Discovery that CD4 receptors on helper T-cells function as a gateway for
HIV virus
- Discovery that GP120 co-receptors on helper T-cells function as a key that
allows HIV to bind to the cell's surface
- Discovery of different strains of HIV that require other receptors
- Discovery of how HIV enzymes enable the formation of new HIV particles, by
manufacturing renegade DNA and integrating it into the host cell's
chromosones, and killing the host cell.
- Discovery of the shapes of the receptors and their interaction, thus
identifying a possible blocking site.
- Sequencing of the genome of HIV
FIV and More on the Podell Cats Experiment
FIV is not HIV. This is one of the fundamental problems with Professor Podll's experiment.
- FIV does not act like HIV. It does not replicate as aggressively as HIV
- FIV does not resemble HIV. The Journal of Medical Microbiology states that
FIV is more closely related to non-primate lentiviruses than HIV.
- The genetic differences between FIV and HIV account for their different behaviors at the cellular level. Whereas HIV binds to the CD4 receptor on a helper T-cell, FIV binds to the CD9 receptor.
- FIV is usually transmitted via saliva [to blood,] not by sexual contact.
Furthermore, artificially induced FIV, unlike the natural virus, does not lead to immunodeficiency. As usual, findings from FIV injected into artificially doped-up cats are not applicable to humans. The Cornell Feline Health Center sums it up well:
"[FIV] is a highly species-specific agent and affects only Felines." FIV does not infect humans and HIV does not infect cats. If we want to learn about HIV, then we need to study HIV, via clinical trials with humans and sophisticated in vitro testing that allows us to closely monitor HIV's activity on different types of human cells.
Apparently none of these inconvenient facts has deterred Professor Podell from forging ahead with his project, artificially infecting cats with FIV in the name of advancing practical scientific knowledge about HIV and AIDS.
Next page > Three Spinal Taps in One Day > Page 1, 2, 3
|
About Cats Chatroom:
|
|
|
|
|
Copyright ©1997 - 2002 Franny Syufy
Licensed to About.com
|
|
