Question:
This is an email from Elizabeth following up on my three email attempts:

Dear John,

Thanks for your interest in UF10994.

This technology is in preclinical stage of development. The group of
investigators continues to work on this project but unfortunately is not
yet available for clinical trials or available as a treatment.

We continue to promote this technology and looking for commercial
partners that would collaborate with us to bring this technology to
market to help the many HSV patients.

If you come across corporations that would be interested in investing in
the development of this treatment, please feel free to provide them with
the link to the technology and my email contact

Best regards,

Elizabeth Garami

Answer:
I've been quiet on this---I can get long-winded. :? But I must say I think it is tacky--irresponsible--for the U. of Florida to language that web page as they have. It makes people think they have a cure for herpes when all they have is a simple hypothesis for which they want funding to test. Their language leaves the impression that it has already been tested and proven which is plain false. Hypotheses are a dime a dozen, and it's unfortunate that a school like that is associated with that web page.

There's nothing out there even close to curing herpes. Herpes is challenging to cure like cancer is---in fact they are thoroughly related as some viruses outright cause cancer. They are both cell-based diseases and the scientific community has never found a way to segregate bad cells without destroying good ones. They've been trying to cure cancer for a long time. They don't have a clue. It's still slash and burn.

Does Lab X have proposed "cure" Y that kills herpes? Maybe, there are lots of things that destroy herpes. But the key questions are does it destroy herpes in vivo, in particular, in humans, and does it also destroy the host.

Answer:
It is very misleading and disappointing, but the fact remains that in order for there to be a cure, they need money and public as well as private interest in the issue. We can still do a lot to promote research and funding for HSV. It may not be a celebrity illness like breast cancer, but we can bring it into the spotlight if we persavere.
Dont lose faith. One day they may just be able to prove this hypothesis, but they wont if people stop asking them to try...

Answer:
I DO believe there is a cure out there (see my long babbling post in the "rant" section) but pharmaceutical companies make WAY too much money off our asses on suppressive therapy. once Herpes is "cured" then think of all those billions of dollars they will lose!

We have a vaccine for Chicken pox....which shares similar dna with the herpes virus. But yet, we can't find a vaccination for herpes. Come on now. I know it is a more virulent and aggressive virus, but still....

Crap I tell ya! I wish to GOD they would come up with a vaccine. More for the sake of my children then myself. Maybe for those who already have it they can't do anything, but for those who do NOT...wow, it would lessen the stigma attached to this stuff if all non-h people were protected against it, eh?

Answer:
it would lessen the stigma attached to this stuff if all non-h people were protected against it, eh? The stigma is the worst part of the disease if you ask me... I can dealwith the pain and discomfort of a skin disease but its the pain that comes form being humiliated for the rest of my life and singled out by society that really hurts

Answer:
The chicken pox vaccine has been proving to not be such a success and I am quite certain that this influences the science of a vaccine for hsv.

I'd be pretty happy if someone can come up with something that just stops outbreaks once and for all.

Did anyone catch the research they are doing with hsv where they want to strip it down and use it as a delivery system to try to cure cancer?

Answer:
Is it possible for the virus to be altered so it already contains the DNA it needs from the host to reproduce and take away some of the original DNA in the virus so that it attacks the unaltered virus instead. Either canceling the two out or eliminating the original virus and resulting in new virus taking over and becoming completely dormant as it no longer has the original

Answer:
Basically hsv puts its DNA inside the nucleus of the ganglion cells, along with the normal cellular DNA. It may be possible to take it out and the technology does exist to do this - however, you have to realize that there might be a risk of the "anti-virus" attacking normal cell DNA. What will that do to the function of the cell? It could induce other disease processes, so researchers need to be careful and thorough in their studies. Lots of clinical studies will be needed.. but yes, if the virus can insert its DNA then an altered virus can also do the same thing.

What the particular UofFl research team is currently doing is using an altered herpes simplex virus to deliver a certain type of structure into infected cells that works to disrupt the ability of the original herpes virus to get replicated. This isn't "just a hypothesis" like was mentioned earlier in this topic - they have an article with animal testing that was quite successful! http://www.nature.com/mt/journal/v13...t2006942a.html

Their method does work, they just need to get the human clinical trials underway.. but they need funding to do that!