klinner@sun.uucp (Kent Klinner) (02/13/86)
The headline article for the Sunday edition of the San Francisco
Examiner, entitled "Extreme proposal by AIDS researchers",
describes a proposal to the military for a $12.5 million research
project to prove that AIDS can be casually transmitted. The proposal
also advocates the design and implementation of identification
and containment measures that are, at best, ineffective and, at
worst, an egregious violation of civil liberties.
The AIMS (Advanced Investigation of Medical Science) Group and the
Institute for Cancer Research, both located in the Pacific
Presbyterian Medical Center in San Francisco, are the authors of
the proposal. Both groups have a history of military research.
The AIMS Group has performed classified research on biological and
chemical warfare. The goals of the study discount the considerable
body of scientific evidence that AIDS is not casually transmitted.
The proposal identifies Stanford and the Hoover Institute as
subcontractors responsible for research on the ethical and legal
issues of identification and containment. SRI is identified as a
subcontractor responsible for designing "intense" behavior
modification techniques to be applied to U.S. servicemen that will
lessen their chances of catching AIDS.
The general reaction from the scientific community is that this is
very bad science. Unfortunately, the Department of Defense has a
long and dark history of pouring lots our money into stupid and
unreasonable pursuits. They're not likely to be dissuaded by
established scientific evidence (my opinion).
Kent
sun!drseuss!klinner
p.s. A recently published scientific paper describes a new class
of AIDS antibodies discovered in the saliva of AIDS/ARC
patients. This new evidence suggest one reason that AIDS may
not be transmitted by kissing, coughing, and breathing even
though viral proteins been detected in the mouth and in the
tear ducts. Details forthcoming.