3 Virologists Share Medicine Nobel Prize

Work in replication of chromosomes may aid cancer treatment

(NEWSER) - Three American scientists won the Nobel Prize for Medicine today for their work on the replication of chromosomes, which has implications for cancer, aging, and stem cell research. The laureates focused on a string of DNA at the end of chromosomes, called telomeres, and discovered an enzyme that allows dividing cells to copy the entire length of genetic material without degradation. Several clinical trials are investigating whether eliminating this enzyme might be useful in cancer treatment. More»

Work paved way for Salk, Sabin vaccines

(NEWSER) - Thomas Weller, whose research on polio won him a share of a Nobel Prize in 1954, died this weekend at 93, the Boston Globe reports. Weller, along with colleagues John Enders and Frederick Robbins, discovered that the polio virus preyed on muscles, not nerve tissue as had been previously thought. Their cultures paved the way for the Salk and Sabin vaccines. More»

Andre Davis didn't tell sex partners about disease

(NEWSER) - A professional wrestler has been sentenced in Ohio to 32 years or having sex with at least 11 women without telling them he has HIV—or lying that he was healthy. Andre Davis, 29—who has wrestled under the stage names "Gangsta of Love" and "Sweet Sexy Sensation"—was convicted of felonious assault, reports the Cincinnati Enquirer. Davis argued in court that he's a "sex addict" who was too "scared" to tell anyone he had HIV, and that he didn't intend to hurt anyone. "I am a loving and compassionate man. I'm not a monster," he said. But a prosecutor called him a "manipulative man and a liar." More»

Michigan's David Dean Smith says he exposed hundreds

(NEWSER) - Awful story out of Michigan: Authorities say a 51-year-old man who is HIV-positive confessed to intentionally exposing hundreds of people to the disease through unprotected sex, report MSNBC and the Grand Rapids Press . Court documents say that David Dean Smith harbored a "desire to harm women" and tried to infect as many people as he could. More»

CDC also says 3 in 4 aren't getting appropriate treatment

(NEWSER) - The CDC has a new study out on HIV treatment across the nation with some disturbing numbers, reports the Wall Street Journal :

• Unaware: About 20% of the 1.2 million people in the US with HIV don't know they're infected. That's 240,000 people.
• Treatment: All told, about three-quarters of those infected are not getting adequate treatment to keep the virus in check, thus raising the risk that it gets passed along.
• New infections: About 50,000 are newly diagnosed with HIV each year, and the lifetime cost of care is currently pegged at $367,000.