So are they even trying to find a cure for cancer?

[Atomini]

Not so sure about that, mate. Genetics plays a role, but please do not underestimate environmental factors, of which foods is a part. My woman tells me there is a pocket of other women in our neighborhood, including herself, that are having severe menstrual bleeding for the last couple of years. We haven't been able to pinpoint it yet, but we got a letter in the mail from our water utilities stating that although still at "safe levels", the arsenic and uranium levels are higher than allowable, and would cost the city something like $26m up front and $3m per year to clean up the mess. The environmental problem is so complex, in some areas, the elevated cancer rates far and exceeds anything even remotely close to the statistical norm.

Oh I have no doubt that ENVIRONMENTAL factors definitely play a role. But what I mean though is that drinking water that has heavy amounts of fluoride, uranium, and arsenic is very different from having a few extra steaks every week in your diet.

[lovbyts]

Lots of good arguments. I also think the environment we live in makes a lot of difference. Most of us have NO idea what is really in our drinking water and it's different from city to city. What is in our food, dairy products etc. Also how close we live to contaminated top soil, what our home, house, condo, apartment is made of, the high voltage power lines. They all make a difference but still not everyone will be effected but there are ways to make our chances of not getting it better.

[DSM4Life]

I watched a movie called AIDs Inc. which i found a few interesting points.
1) The scientist said the role of scientists when it comes to infections disease is to first and foremost find a cure then work on how to maintain it.
His question is "So why with HIV-AIDS have we first come up with maintenance drugs without first finding a cure ?"
2)HIV-AIDS was first found around 1980's and we still don't have a test to determine AIDS. We have a test that shows T-cell count but not one test can identify the virus. If you read the information printed with these "T-cell count test" directly from the manf they read "This is not a accurate test for HIV-AIDS..."

[lovbyts]

Im 99.99% sure they have a cure for aids but it's a disease of convenience I think.

[danielmaco]

Some good news.

Protein may be cancer breakthrough
AAP November 1, 2010, 6:54 am



SYDNEY, Nov 1 AAP - A protein called perforin that kills rogue cells in the human body may a breakthrough in the fight against cancer and diabetes, researchers say.

A team of Melbourne and London researchers have shown perforin punches holes in, and kills, rogue cells in our bodies.

Their discovery of the mechanism is published on Monday in the science journal Nature.

"Perforin is our body's weapon of cleansing and death," Monash University professor James Whisstock said.

"It breaks into cells that have been hijacked by viruses or turned into cancer cells and allows toxic enzymes in, to destroy the cell from within.

"Without it our immune system can't destroy these cells. Now we know how it works, we can start to fine tune it to fight cancer, malaria and diabetes."

The first observations that the human immune system could punch holes in target cells was made by the Nobel laureate Jules Bordet over 110 years ago.

The researchers from Monash University and the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Melbourne, and Birkbeck College in London, collaborated on the ten-year study to unravel the molecular structure and function of perforin, the protein responsible.

The structure was revealed with the help of the Australian Synchrotron, and with powerful electron microscopes at Birkbeck.

Combining the detailed structure of a single perforin molecule with the electron microscopy reconstruction of a ring of perforins forming a hole in a model membrane reveals how this protein assembles to punch holes in cell membranes.

The new research has confirmed that the important parts of the perforin molecule are quite similar to those in toxins deployed by bacteria such as anthrax, listeria and streptococcus.

"The molecular structure has survived for close to two billion years, we think," head of cancer immunology at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Professor Joe Trapani, said.

Perforin is also the culprit when the wrong cells are marked for elimination, either in autoimmune disease conditions, such as early onset diabetes, or in tissue rejection following bone marrow transplantation.

So the researchers are now investigating ways to boost perforin for more effective cancer protection, and therapy for acute diseases such as cerebral malaria.
With the help of a $1 million grant from the Wellcome Trust they are working on potential inhibitors to suppress perforin and counter tissue rejection.

http://au.news.yahoo.com/a/-/mp/8233...-breakthrough/

[Times Roman]

I watched a movie called AIDs Inc. which i found a few interesting points.
1) The scientist said the role of scientists when it comes to infections disease is to first and foremost find a cure then work on how to maintain it.
His question is "So why with HIV-AIDS have we first come up with maintenance drugs without first finding a cure ?"
2)HIV-AIDS was first found around 1980's and we still don't have a test to determine AIDS. We have a test that shows T-cell count but not one test can identify the virus. If you read the information printed with these "T-cell count test" directly from the manf they read "This is not a accurate test for HIV-AIDS..."

I think virus' are a whole degree of difficulty higher than infections and cancers. Just to illustrate my thought process, let me ask a similar question (although not as critical...)

"Why, after knowing about the cold virus for over a generation, have we found no cure for the common cold?"

Same with herpes..... still no cure.
Same with pretty much ANY virus.

Our technology just isn't there yet. We are at the dawn of a genetic revolution. Virus' work at a genetic (dna) level, which is much smaller and significantly more complex than at a cellular level, which is where bacteria & infections thrive.

[DSM4Life]

I think virus' are a whole degree of difficulty higher than infections and cancers. Just to illustrate my thought process, let me ask a similar question (although not as critical...)

"Why, after knowing about the cold virus for over a generation, have we found no cure for the common cold?"

Same with herpes..... still no cure.
Same with pretty much ANY virus.

Our technology just isn't there yet. We are at the dawn of a genetic revolution. Virus' work at a genetic (dna) level, which is much smaller and significantly more complex than at a cellular level, which is where bacteria & infections thrive.

If you ask me and I am far from a scientist, I still find it suspect that we have had millions/billions of dollars put into AIDS research and still to this day don't even have a accurate test that can detect the virus.

Is I possible that it's that far over our heads? Sure, I guess. It's just my opinion.

[Hazard]

I think virus' are a whole degree of difficulty higher than infections and cancers. Just to illustrate my thought process, let me ask a similar question (although not as critical...)

"Why, after knowing about the cold virus for over a generation, have we found no cure for the common cold?"

Same with herpes..... still no cure.
Same with pretty much ANY virus.

Our technology just isn't there yet. We are at the dawn of a genetic revolution. Virus' work at a genetic (dna) level, which is much smaller and significantly more complex than at a cellular level, which is where bacteria & infections thrive.

If you ask me and I am far from a scientist, I still find it suspect that we have had millions/billions of dollars put into AIDS research and still to this day don't even have a accurate test that can detect the virus.

Is I possible that it's that far over our heads? Sure, I guess. It's just my opinion.

i also find it weird that we know virtually NOTHING about HIV/AIDS after all the money that has been thrown into it's research..... at the same time tho..... if we did know anything about virus' - we'd have found a posotive solution for herpes. I mean..... it's not a life threatening virus..... it's not "thinning the herd" so to speak..... so then why havn't we found a cure? I really just think virus' are so much more complex.....

~Haz~

[Times Roman]

If you ask me and I am far from a scientist, I still find it suspect that we have had millions/billions of dollars put into AIDS research and still to this day don't even have a accurate test that can detect the virus.

Is I possible that it's that far over our heads? Sure, I guess. It's just my opinion.

I think it is due to our not being technologically ready to really tackle the problem. Much of the foundation to even begin the research wasn't in place yet. So, we really had to get the basics in place. Again, a real clue to where we are at viral cure technology is by looking at where we are with the herpes virus. Nowhere. We treat the symptoms, not the virus itself.

Flash to a quick analogy to explain why we had to spend billions for nothing.....

Think of aids virus cure research as a project. Left on it's own, we may have had a cure in (i'm guessing) something like 20 years. this research is an evolutionary process. For example, before you can "invent" an engine, you better already have discovered how to forge steel. the industrial process and mass production made this invention affordable to the masses. But if we are 1820's era technology, how many $$ would you have to throw at this project if you told your scientists they had to design and create an airplane? All the money in the world would not have been able to produce anything in under 5 years. Not only did they NOT have the technology, they didn't even have the theory of flight~!

We were in a similar situation with trying to find a cure for aids. It was a huge political hot button topic, and, after all, it was only tax payer $$ that funded the research. I think going into this, it was very naive to think we'd find a cure in 5 years. We were so ignorant, we didn't even know what we didn't know. Can you imagine the public outcry if a politician publically commented that aids research as a huge waste of money and time? that our best investment was in prevention? and the next best investment was in improving overall quality of life? Never could have happened, any politician with that coming out of their mouth would have been sacked!

So, we govern to public opinion, irregardless the cost. I think an honest answer to an aids cure is that it is still pretty far down the road (5+ years, maybe more)

[Times Roman]

with computer programming (remember DNA is code, just like programming), quite often the cure is back to a "pre-infected" state. For humans, this would mean having a clean copy of our own personal DNA, and then somehow eliminating those cells in your body that have different DNA.

But I don't have a friggin clue as to how we would do that!!??

(or genetically altering those cells with different DNA back to their original state, based on the clean DNA sample that individual has?)

[DSM4Life]

AIDS not only attacks the immune system but it intertwins itself within our existing DNA. So how do you remove the defective DNA without damaging the good DNA? In short you can't which is why currently there is no cure. Although I have read articles that show we have the ability to total wipe out our immune system and rebuild it which seems like the solution to many of these viruses. How? Stemcells. (opens another can of worms).

[Hazard]

I think it is due to our not being technologically ready to really tackle the problem. Much of the foundation to even begin the research wasn't in place yet. So, we really had to get the basics in place. Again, a real clue to where we are at viral cure technology is by looking at where we are with the herpes virus. Nowhere. We treat the symptoms, not the virus itself.

Flash to a quick analogy to explain why we had to spend billions for nothing.....

Think of aids virus cure research as a project. Left on it's own, we may have had a cure in (i'm guessing) something like 20 years. this research is an evolutionary process. For example, before you can "invent" an engine, you better already have discovered how to forge steel. the industrial process and mass production made this invention affordable to the masses. But if we are 1820's era technology, how many $$ would you have to throw at this project if you told your scientists they had to design and create an airplane? All the money in the world would not have been able to produce anything in under 5 years. Not only did they NOT have the technology, they didn't even have the theory of flight~!

We were in a similar situation with trying to find a cure for aids. It was a huge political hot button topic, and, after all, it was only tax payer $$ that funded the research. I think going into this, it was very naive to think we'd find a cure in 5 years. We were so ignorant, we didn't even know what we didn't know. Can you imagine the public outcry if a politician publically commented that aids research as a huge waste of money and time? that our best investment was in prevention? and the next best investment was in improving overall quality of life? Never could have happened, any politician with that coming out of their mouth would have been sacked!

So, we govern to public opinion, irregardless the cost. I think an honest answer to an aids cure is that it is still pretty far down the road (5+ years, maybe more)

I was with you on this until you said "iiregardless" again..... and now your whole arguement is bollocks

~Haz~

[DSM4Life]

Haz avatar sucks, change it.

[Hazard]

Haz avatar sucks, change it.

That moment at 4am in a NYC when I met Victor was a huge deal..... In a land of drunks and druggies..... one huge fvcker and an amateur shook hands and knew we were awesome..... i'm keeping it

~Haz~

[DSM4Life]

That moment at 4am in a NYC when I met Victor was a huge deal..... In a land of drunks and druggies..... one huge fvcker and an amateur shook hands and knew we were awesome..... i'm keeping it

~Haz~

We are so broken up right now.

[Hazard]

LOL! well..... it wouldn't have happened if you just sucked it up and came to nyc with me like I asked you to..... you also could have put a beatdown on a tranny that whiped sweat off my back..... that wasn't cool.....

~Haz~

[Swifto]

Anyone of the opinion we will never find a "cure" for cancer?

[Swifto]

When was the first known case of cancer detected?

Was this a result of human doing (cancer)? Diet, lifestyle etc...?

[Times Roman]

I was with you on this until you said "iiregardless" again..... and now your whole arguement is bollocks

~Haz~

you HAVE brought this up to my attention on more than one ocassion, have you not?

[Times Roman]

Haz avatar sucks, change it.

well, D, it appears that your avatar suggests you are a huge fan of razor burn? With stubbles that short, I'm sure both those faces are beet red after only a few moments of smooching. You must be into pain?

Or is your avatar suggesting something else I'm just flat out not seeing? =)

[indie10669]

As someone with a hand in the pharmacoly industry, I can confirm DSM's suspicions on this matter. People literally die every day for these selfish bastards to sip martinis in their summer homes in Mexico every year. I have seen it first-hand and the tactics they use truly disgust me

[Hazard]

you HAVE brought this up to my attention on more than one ocassion, have you not?

~Haz~

[scorpion62]

Iam of the opinion that we will never find a cure for cancer,they say that everybody has the cancer cells in there body and that something triggers it in the body what no one knows this includes the doctors,Theres one thing for sure if cancer runs in your family then your genetics says that your number on the board,the same as heart and blood disorders its all genetics Swifto an answer to your question http://cancer.about.com/od/historyof...cerhistory.htm so cancer has been about a long time and still no CURE 1500 B.C they cut cancer out sh1t not much change there then

[Knockout_Power]

And now in a so called recent study i saw on tv they say that a 10 year study showed that food as little to do with cancer?

How mixed up do you want people to be, and sure its all marketing related, say green tea and the stores will sell all they have. Red meat sells will be a lot less.

its just the same as with Steroids being overhyped for being the bad guy when there is always an underlying more important (but not on the agenda) cause. You get groups like PETA and such taking a small tidbit from a research study and then posting a billboard stating that red meat with kill you, cause importance and a shitload of other negative life altering problems.

I feel for you man, I lost my grandpa to a 3 year battle with lung cancer that finally spread to every bone and organ in his body... makes you wonder how we can clone humans (legal or not) but not cure cancer.

Theres the obvious answer to that. There are no re-occuring patients if you cure a disease, theres more money if you treat them for the remainder of their life. Pharmaceuticals is like any other business. its just for the money.

[Times Roman]

Iam of the opinion that we will never find a cure for cancer,they say that everybody has the cancer cells in there body and that something triggers it in the body what no one knows this includes the doctors,Theres one thing for sure if cancer runs in your family then your genetics says that your number on the board,the same as heart and blood disorders its all genetics Swifto an answer to your question http://cancer.about.com/od/historyof...cerhistory.htm so cancer has been about a long time and still no CURE 1500 B.C they cut cancer out sh1t not much change there then

A cancer cell is just a mutation gone awry, an incomplete copy or an innaccurate copy of a good cell. It continues to replicate incorrectly. Every cell has the potential, when it divides, to become a cancer cell. Look at the November Issue of the LifeExtension magazine, and then read the article on Metformin. The term "cancer" is pretty generic. There are so many types of cancer. it is like saying we will find the cure for desease. We have already come a long way. And I think the next ten years will bring us even further....

[DSM4Life]

well, D, it appears that your avatar suggests you are a huge fan of razor burn? With stubbles that short, I'm sure both those faces are beet red after only a few moments of smooching. You must be into pain?

Or is your avatar suggesting something else I'm just flat out not seeing? =)

Yeah i love facial hair. Rubbing stubble while kissing is so hot.

LOL! well..... it wouldn't have happened if you just sucked it up and came to nyc with me like I asked you to..... you also could have put a beatdown on a tranny that whiped sweat off my back..... that wasn't cool.....

~Haz~

You always have trannys around you. Where are you hanging out ?

[Times Roman]

Yeah i love facial hair. Rubbing stubble while kissing is so hot.


You always have trannys around you. Where are you hanging out ?

Transmission repair shop? =)

[DSM4Life]

Transmission repair shop? =)

I guess, trannys can sure f*** you if you don't take care of them.

[Times Roman]

I guess, trannys can sure f*** you if you don't take care of them.

never knew any real trannies. There was this club once out in SF that was world famous. Not sure if it is still there.

quick hijack....
back in the early to mid 80's, there was this club in the city called (sp?) Phinnico's (rhymes with Pinnicio). Took my GF, and a few buddies there. So we are sitting there, and my buddy, being his normal obnoxious self, starts telling us openly how he'd like to bang this show girl or that show girl (and how gorgeous they are, but why is That one kinda ugly?). My GF and I are howling! My buddy says what the hell is wrong with us? So this real cute waitress (and shapely too) is walking by, so I ask her to explain to my buddy what's up with this place. So my buddy is like, "yeah, what's up? I'm not supposed to say how hot these women are"? And this waitress, with a totally straight face, says in a real deep voice..... "Honey, the only women here happen to be this one sitting here at the table with you!" (My GF). And off he walks, shaking his totally hot ass! My buddy is dying with embarrassment, and is trying to slide under the table. MFG, that was so precious! I'm laughing even now remembering that night. So anyways, my other buddy that went with us, real quiet the whole night, decides to chirp in, and says, "Hey man, which one was it again you were wanting to bang?"

[charcold]

Some very strong opinions in here.

Cancer is a lot more complex than the simplistic other diseases.

And we use ELISA to detect HIV antibodies, and Western blots to detect HIV proteins. You have to understand how small these particles are. As well as a virus that attacks the immune system is quite frankly well set up. In this case, what the hell are we supposed to do to stop it?

[Knockout_Power]

In this case, what the hell are we supposed to do to stop it?

make it sit through a Sex in the City movie... that always makes me want to leave

[Dr.Roidz]

A cure? Not likely....A vaccine, yes. there are several on the market and in clinical trials. as TR said there is not a universal cure. every form of cancer is treated as a separate disease.

[MuscleScience]

tjaz I know your being sarcastic but is this honestly what you people think? Have any of you that actually believe this ever been involved in research? or even the medical field for that matter?

I have.

[MuscleScience]

I disagree with your statement. The company that comes out with the cure to a major disease is going to make an enormous amount of money. First, to a lesser extent, from the sales of the drug itself, but mainly from the boon to its reputation that will come from solving a diseases crisis.
On a side note, I do not think there will ever be a "cure" for HIV, because the virus mutates so quickly and easily that medications often loose their effectiveness. However it should soon be possible for the majority of patients to lead full reasonably healthy lifetimes with management of the viral load.
As far as the OP's post, cancer is an extraordinary complex cluster of disease processes, with many different cellular origins. Researchers for this disease receive a tremendous amount of funding and are working everyday to learn what causes cells to grow out of control. However the average person will not hear anything about this, mainly because this day to day work deals with very minute aspects of nature, such as the regulation of genes and actions of proteins. These findings aren't going to draw attention from most people, yet they are vital to understanding the highly complex nature of cells and disease pathology. Each finding is like a little piece of an enormous puzzle uncovered. Eventually these discoveries may lead to some sort of "cure" which is when the public will really be informed.

I agree with you 100%,

Having been involved in biomedical research I have seen just how much money NSF and NIH throw at cancer related work. I personally know and watched for many years PhD's that worked in cancer research. For example, one guy was a glycoprotein expert. He only worked on glycoproteins and specifically one class of glycoproteins that is "thought" to be involved in some cancer processes. The key word here is thought, he is the worlds foremost expert on this one small class of proteins. He does work on nothing else yet has many many papers published in his 30+ year career. Now if you figure that this is just one protein "thought" to be involved in cancerous processes coupled with the fact that there are many hundreds if not thousands of variants of cancer out there. You can see how large a task it is to figure out how to cure cancer. Especially when its is not fully understood how even a normal cell works.

I simply cant get on board the whole conspiracy theory on this. People will always get cancer, having a cure for it would be extremely profitable to both the Pharm companies and society if you figure in the cost associated to battling cancer for years.

[Dr.Roidz]

My point exactly MuscleScience

[DSM4Life]

Virus breakthrough raises hope over ending common cold

Scientists say they have made a landmark discovery which could pave the way for new drugs to beat illnesses like the common cold.

Until now experts had thought that antibodies could only tackle viral infections by blocking or attacking viruses outside cells.

But work done by the Medical Research Council shows antibodies can pass into cells and fight viruses from within.

PNAS journal said the finding held promise for a new antiviral drugs.

The Cambridge scientists stressed that it would take years of work and testing to find new therapies, and said that the pathway they had discovered would not work on all viruses.

Fighting viruses
Some antiviral drugs are already available to help treat certain conditions, like HIV.


But viruses remain mankind's biggest killer, responsible for twice as many deaths each year as cancer, and are among the hardest of all diseases to treat.

The new discovery by Dr Leo James and colleagues transforms the previous scientific understanding of our immunity to viral diseases like the common cold, 'winter vomiting' and gastroenteritis.

It shows that antibodies can enter cells and that once inside, they then trigger a response, led by a protein called TRIM21.

Continue reading the main story
“
Start Quote

Doctors have plenty of antibiotics to fight bacterial infections but few antiviral drugs”

Dr Leo James
Lead researcher at the MRC in Cambridge
This protein pulls the virus into a disposal system used by the cell to get rid of unwanted material.

The researchers found this process happens quickly, usually before most viruses have chance to harm the cell.

And they discovered that increasing the amount of TRIM21 protein in cells makes this process even more effective, suggesting new ways of making better antiviral drugs.

Dr James said: "Doctors have plenty of antibiotics to fight bacterial infections but few antiviral drugs.

"Although these are early days, and we don't yet know whether all viruses are cleared by this mechanism, we are excited that our discoveries may open multiple avenues for developing new antiviral drugs."

Sir Greg Winter, deputy director of the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, said: "This research is not only a leap in our understanding of how and where antibodies work, but more generally in our understanding of immunity and infection."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-11673034

[MuscleScience]

Virus breakthrough raises hope over ending common cold

Scientists say they have made a landmark discovery which could pave the way for new drugs to beat illnesses like the common cold.

Until now experts had thought that antibodies could only tackle viral infections by blocking or attacking viruses outside cells.

But work done by the Medical Research Council shows antibodies can pass into cells and fight viruses from within.

PNAS journal said the finding held promise for a new antiviral drugs.

The Cambridge scientists stressed that it would take years of work and testing to find new therapies, and said that the pathway they had discovered would not work on all viruses.

Fighting viruses
Some antiviral drugs are already available to help treat certain conditions, like HIV.


But viruses remain mankind's biggest killer, responsible for twice as many deaths each year as cancer, and are among the hardest of all diseases to treat.

The new discovery by Dr Leo James and colleagues transforms the previous scientific understanding of our immunity to viral diseases like the common cold, 'winter vomiting' and gastroenteritis.

It shows that antibodies can enter cells and that once inside, they then trigger a response, led by a protein called TRIM21.

Continue reading the main story
“
Start Quote

Doctors have plenty of antibiotics to fight bacterial infections but few antiviral drugs”

Dr Leo James
Lead researcher at the MRC in Cambridge
This protein pulls the virus into a disposal system used by the cell to get rid of unwanted material.

The researchers found this process happens quickly, usually before most viruses have chance to harm the cell.

And they discovered that increasing the amount of TRIM21 protein in cells makes this process even more effective, suggesting new ways of making better antiviral drugs.

Dr James said: "Doctors have plenty of antibiotics to fight bacterial infections but few antiviral drugs.

"Although these are early days, and we don't yet know whether all viruses are cleared by this mechanism, we are excited that our discoveries may open multiple avenues for developing new antiviral drugs."

Sir Greg Winter, deputy director of the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, said: "This research is not only a leap in our understanding of how and where antibodies work, but more generally in our understanding of immunity and infection."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-11673034

That's Freaking Amazing!

[Dr.Roidz]

Two new antibodies may lead to HIV/AIDS vaccine

July 14, 2010 — 3:39pm ET | By Erica Teichert




Federal researchers have discovered two antibodies that may bring about the renaissance of HIV and AIDS treatment. The antibodies, VRC01 and VRC02, can kill up to 90 percent of HIV strains, compared to a 30 or 40 kill percentage in previously found antibodies. The researchers' findings were published in the Science journal this month.
"I am more optimistic about an AIDS vaccine at this point in time than I have been probably in the last 10 years," Dr. Gary Nabel of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases tells Reuters. "We're going to be at this for a while." The antibodies are naturally created by some infected patients once AIDS sets in, but at that point it's too late. Researchers hope that by studying these antibodies, they will be able to create new treatments, or even a successful AIDS vaccine.
VRC01 and VRC02 attach themselves to a spike on the HIV virus that is normally used to attach to human cells. Due to its purpose, the spike is relatively unchanged in all strains of HIV, leading to the tremendous efficacy of the antibodies. Currently, over 33 million people are infected with HIV, and 25 million have died since the late 1980s.
"What that is telling us is that you can identify the portion of the virus that you would like to use as a vaccine, because we know that when the antibodies bind to that portion, it knock down the virus," said Anthony Fauci, head of the U.S. institute of infectious diseases.

[Swifto]

What about there supposed women that are immune from HIV/AIDs in Africa (prostitutes), or is that nonsense?

[tjax03]

What about there supposed women that are immune from HIV/AIDs in Africa (prostitutes), or is that nonsense?

There are some people who lack a cell surface receptor which the virus recognizes and uses to infect T cells. Becuase of this they are immune to effects of the virus. I am not sure if this means they simply live unaffected with the virus, or whether the virus itself is eliminated after a period of time.