Online gamers cracks AIDS enzyme puzzle.

[crimsonedge]

Which is why smallpox is still a persistent threat, and why we dropped off the Malthusian cliff two centuries ago. There's nothing two-edged about curing diseases, as far as I'm concerned. Even if other factors still exist that limit population growth, even if the disease does or does not eventually adapt to fight off the treatment (and it doesn't necessarily have to become more virulent to do so; that's a base misrepresentation), a step forward is still a step forward.

As for this story, it is a fairly interesting thing. It's obviously not the only thing necessary to cure AIDS, but identifying the structure of this retroviral cutting enzyme is likely to be quite useful in determining ways to combat HIV. And, considering this is general to retroviruses and not just HIV, it can be adjusted and tweaked, or simply generalized to suit any adaptions HIV may go through; it's not like a crow can become a chicken, after all, no matter how it's cooked.

They never actually eliminated small pox, instead they weaponized it and made it much more lethal than any natural variety of it ever was or probably would have been. They just control it in a lab now.

I think 10 Billion + people on Earth is too many, and it won't be long before we hit those numbers. The most underdeveloped countries are also many of the ones with exploding populations, but they don't have the government, structure or system in place to support such growth.

Even right now being HIV positive isn't necessarily a death sentence. Look at Magic Johnson, hes had it for over 20 years, and hes doing fine. Its possible he will live a normal human life span and die of old age, and not HIV.