HIV sequence from virus

[Sandra Russell]

In <3r9oiu$aep at panix.com> jscutero at panix.com (James Scutero) writes: 

>
>In article <3r7gme$c20 at miasun.med.miami.edu> 
>tmiller at newssun.med.miami.edu (Todd Miller - Pharmacology) writes:
>>In article <3r7bdh$gc9 at ipgate.le.ac.uk>, A.J.Cann <nna at le.ac.uk> 
wrote:
>>>Many HIV RNA sequences have been derived by limit-dilution RT-PCR of 
>>>virus particles. They do show significant differences from the 
prevalent 
>>>(DNA) provirus sequences at any one time. Check out the may 
references 
>>>by A.Leigh-Brown & P.Simmonds, Edinburgh University.
>>>
>>>
>>I looked at the most recent article in January J Inf Diseases and
>>was referred back to a 1990 paper by the same authors for methods.
>>All the methods used proviral DNA.
>>
>>No more wild goose chases for me.  I'm convinced that there is no
>>sequence data derived from particles, and when this is considered
>>along with the absence of EM's of pure HIV, I have to doubt it's
>>existence.  
>
>What do you call the EM photos of free HIV in Virology 189:700 (1992)?
>
>>Why isn't this data available?  All you thousands of
>>scientists working on this and no one can provide me this info.
>>Hmmmm.
>
>Why would anyone deal with you at all? People cite references to EM 
photos
>of free HIV and you continue to say that HIV does not exist.
>*********************************************************
>-James M. Scutero, original proponent of misc.health.aids
> misc.health.aids WWW homepage: http://www.panix.com/~jscutero 
> (where you can only find a diagram of the structural proteins of HIV)
>

Comment: the photo in Virology 189:700, 1992 are of virus which has been 
sedemented along with latex sizing spheres.  It is surely free, and the 
virions are not attached to the spheres.  Moreover, there are so many 
virions per sphere that it is difficult to imagine any way in which the 
presense of these neutral objects is affecting the prep.  Nevertheless, 
for some odd reason Todd seems to think they invalidate the whole thing. 
 What's your problem, here, Todd?  This photo shows cell-free HIV 
concentrated virus, as confirmed with EM and chemical tests. It also  
confirms what two OTHER independent labs (Ho's and Montagnier's) report 
they've seen on EM of sucrose gradients, and it also confirms what yet 
other labs finds in the way of HIV RT and proteins and infectious 
particles in a sucrose gradient.  It also looks exactly like what people 
get with closely related SIV and FIV off sucrose gradients.  Too much 
evidence to explain in any other way, I'm afraid.

                                        Steve Harris, M.D.