Faculty Bibliography

Scientists are taking that radical idea seriously, basing their hopes for success on the natural resistance of baboons to H.I.V., the AIDS virus, and on advances in immunology. The aim is to transfer the disease resistance to H.I.V.-infected people, bridging the species barrier. Plans are strictly in the experimental phase. If the experiment works, uninfected baboon cells will join the H.I.V.-infected human marrow and help restore the body's immune function. Since 1983, Dr. [Anthony S. Fauci]'s institute has been experimenting with bone-marrow transplants between identical twins to combat H.I.V. About 50 healthy twins have donated marrow to their H.I.V.-infected siblings. Ordinarily, the recipient's marrow would be destroyed before the transplant, but this was not done with the H.I.V.-infected twins because researchers were concerned about further damaging the immune system. Most infected twins also received various anti-H.I.V. therapies. The next round of baboon-to-human transplants is expected to use a discovery by Dr. [Suzanne T. Ildstad], a former member of Dr. [Thomas Starzl]'s team who now works independently at the University of Pittsburgh, about how to avoid graft-versus-host disease. She has discovered a novel cell, one of about 250 cells in the marrow, that she calls a facilitating cell because it helps eliminate the risk of graft-versus-host disease in rodents. It allows the grafting of purified stem cells into genetically different recipients, including hosts of different species. Stem cells are believed to give rise to the wide variety of immune cells and oxygen-carrying red cells in the blood

The CDC said on Jul 7, 1994 that an emergency surveillance program allowed health officials to forgo expensive contingency plans for widespread mosquito control after the Midwest floods in 1993. The surveillance program cost $390,000 but saved an estimated $10 million. The development may have relevance to the 1994 flooding in the South

The finding pointed to [David J. Acer]'s practice. But such tests cannot tell who infected whom, nor how Acer might have transmitted the virus. Such evidence comes from interviews and other features of an epidemiological investigation. Explanations have ranged widely, from Acer's nicking a finger and allowing a little of his blood to flow into a dental wound in a patient's mouth, to murder. But none could be proved. The patients denied having had sex with Acer, and rape was ruled out because none had had general anesthesia. Investigators did not find the sexual partner who presumably infected Acer, who was bisexual. Only one other cluster of cases in a doctor's office has been found. Last December, Australian health officials reported that HIV had been transmitted to four patients who were treated on the same day in 1989 in the office of a surgeon who tested HIV negative. The cluster was attributed to a breakdown in standard infection control that allowed HIV to spread from a fifth, infected patient. CBS quoted Lisa Shoemaker, another infected patient, as saying in 1989 that she believed her boyfriend was infected with HIV. [Harold W. Jaffe] said that the boyfriend had tested negative and that two years later he tested positive for HIV, but with a different strain

Scientists at the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston believe they have identified the mechanism by which high amounts of an amino acid called homocysteine damages arteries. In the Jul 5, 1994 issue of The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the scientists said they had identified two important effects of homocysteine: one is to promote the growth of smooth muscle cells in the arteries and the other is to inhibit the growth of the cells present on the inside lining of arteries, or endothelium

The finding pointed to Dr. [David J. Acer]'s practice. But such tests cannot tell who infected whom, nor how Dr. Acer might have transmitted the virus. Such evidence comes from interviews and other features of an epidemiological investigation. Explanations have ranged widely, from Dr. Acer nicking a finger and allowing a little of his blood to flow into a dental wound in a patient's mouth, to murder. But none could be proved. The patients denied having sex with Dr. Acer, and rape was ruled out because none had had general anesthesia. Investigators did not find the partner who presumably infected Dr. Acer, who was bisexual. Only one other cluster of cases in a doctor's office has been found. Last December, Australian health officials reported that H.I.V. had been transmitted to four patients who were treated on the same day in 1989 in the office of a surgeon who tested H.I.V. negative. The cluster was attributed to a breakdown in standard infection-control that allowed H.I.V. to spread from a fifth, infected patient. 'The weakness of the Dr. Acer case is that we don't know how transmission occurred,' Dr. [Harold W. Jaffe] said. 'In some people's minds that is equivalent to saying that transmission did not occur, but we don't agree.'

Scientists have theorized that if the high amounts could be detected and lowered by dietary and other modifications, damage from atherosclerosis might be prevented and deaths reduced. But precisely how the amino acid might lead to atherosclerosis has been a scientific mystery. One is to promote growth of smooth muscle cells in the arteries. Growth of such cells is a prominent feature of atherosclerosis. The other is to inhibit the growth of the cells on the inside lining of arteries, or endothelium, which help protect against development of atherosclerosis

Ever since HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, was identified in the early 1980s, development of an AIDS vaccine has been the highest public health priority. Since 1984, the U.S. Public Health Service has spent at least $639 million on developing an AIDS vaccine. The June panel, reviewing fresher data, learned that 13 participants in AIDS vaccine trials, including two in the Biocine and Genentech studies, had become infected with HIV. The infections came from risky behavior, not from the vaccine. Some infections are expected in vaccine trials. Because none of the newly infected participants had completed a full course of immunization (up to four shots over several months), their cases probably are not likely to be helpful in assessing the efficacy of the vaccines. Scientists boast they have learned more quickly about the AIDS virus than other infectious agents. Most of that knowledge has come from research on the fundamental structure of viruses and cells. And many have been eager to apply their newest techniques, believing they hold the key to a successful AIDS vaccine

The new study reports on the discovery of a gene in M. tuberculosis called inhA, for isonicotinic acid hydrazide. The gene directs the production of an enzyme that the researchers suspect helps chain lipids to each other. They believe isoniazid works by targeting the enzyme and interfering with the lipids to kill the bacterium. In their research on tuberculosis at [Albert Einstein], [William R. Jacobs Jr.] and his team have been relying on the same tools that are used to study genetics and the most fundamental aspects of cell biology. With his team's help in 1992, another group of scientists reported that the loss of a gene that codes for an enzyme known as catalase could make some strains of M. tuberculosis drug-resistant. Two facts led Jacobs's team to conclude that catalase was not the target enzyme. The first was that of all the isoniazid-resistant strains of tuberculosis that have been identified in New York City, only about 25 percent had lost the catalase enzyme. The second was that removal of the catalase gene does not kill M. tuberculosis

Ever since HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, was identified in the early 1980s, development of an AIDS vaccine has been the highest public health priority. Since 1984, the U.S. Public Health Service has spent at least $639 million on developing an AIDS vaccine. Empiricists say they must rely at least in part on intelligent guesswork. Scientists favoring a more cautious approach say the deadliness of AIDS means that as much as possible should be learned through laboratory and animal experiments before subjecting volunteers to the crucial test - finding out whether the vaccine prevents infection. The June panel, reviewing fresher data, learned that 13 participants in AIDS vaccine trials, including two in the Biocine and Genentech studies, had become infected with HIV. The infections came from risky behavior, not from the vaccine. Some infections are expected in vaccine trials. Because none of the newly infected participants had completed a full course of immunization (up to four shots over several months), their cases probably are not likely to be helpful in assessing the efficacy of the vaccines

Ever since H.I.V., the virus that causes AIDS, was identified in the early 1980's, development of an AIDS vaccine has been the highest public health priority. Since 1984, the United States Public Health Service has spent at least $639 million on developing an AIDS vaccine. Scientists are generally more cautious in testing a prevention method than they are concerning new therapies for a disease. But Dr. [Sten H. Vermund] argued that the risk-to-benefit ratio should tilt toward taking more risks in dealing with prevention for a major public health problem. In his opinion, the June panelists should have recommended forging ahead in testing the efficacy of the two experimental AIDS vaccines. 'In the face of a raging epidemic in which existing preventions have limited efficacy, why aren't we compelled to take more risks in prevention research?' he asked. 'AIDS has been wonderful for molecular biologists,' Dr. [Murray Gardner] said. 'But have molecular biologists done anything for AIDS yet?'