"You Bet Your Life"

October Snub Fest Continues!

In 2006, the professional AIDS activist crowd held a boring, soporific, atrociously irrelevant conference in Toronto, which we dubbed, the International Yawn Fest. It was so bad even Dr. Bob "Scientific Misconduct" Gallo thought it a farce, unworthy of his hallowed attendance. We heartily agreed.

Two years later, with great mirth, we have moved from Snooze Fest to Snub Fest -- the glaring and conspicuous, scientific cold-cocking of that rascal Gallo by the Nobel Committee, who awarded the Nobel Prize to Dr. Montagnier for his discovery of HIV, but overlooked the, ahem, "contributions" of co-discoverer, Dr. Gallo.

Those smart folks in Sweden, we reckon, have a simple rule -- if you "discover" a new human retrovirus via Le French Service Postale, sorry, no prize for you.

The old Grey Lady aka the New York Times  said it best:

Half of the award will be shared by two French virologists, Françoise Barré-Sinoussi, 61, and Luc A. Montagnier, 76, for discovering H.I.V., the virus that causes AIDS. Conspicuously omitted was Dr. Robert C. Gallo, an American virologist who vied with the French team in a long, often acrimonious dispute over credit for the discovery of H.I.V

Conspicuous?!!? -- You mean like a large matzoh ball hanging off your lip, during a lunch time meeting with the boss?

But it just gets better!

New Scientist -- Was Robert Gallo robbed of the Nobel Prize?

NPR --- Nobel Panel Decides Against US HIV Discovery

Baltimore Sun -- Nobel Panel Snubs Gallo in HIV prize

Herald Sun --- Nobel Rift between Luc Montagnier, Francoise Barre-Sinoussi and Robert Gallo 

Scientific American --  No Nobel for You: Top Ten Nobel Snubs

The Times UK -- Nobel Medicine Prize Row as HIV Scientist is Excluded

Newsweek --  The Shocking Medicine Nobel

Forbes -- A Prize Tarnished

Washington Post --  French AIDS Researchers Split Nobel with German -- Key Role Played by Excluded American

Time -- Bumbling Toward the Nobel

The list of these biting, obviously painful articles (to Gallo's pride and prestige) goes on and on and on and on. They are too abundant to list. This would be comical, if not so tragic. As Shakespeare tells us, "That which originates from a dark deed, will blossom in a foul manner." A less macabre perspective has been proffered by one famous scientist, who described Montagnier and Gallo as "two bumbling thieves fighting over fake diamonds."

Psst. Here's a hint, sotto voce: The problem ain't that Gallo stole the virus from Montagnier -- the problem is that neither of them proved the virus capable of killing cells or causing disease. Have a nice day.

The Wit and Wisdom of Luc Montagnier

It's official – the Nobel Committee endorses Dr. Luc Montagnier (and not Dr. Robert Gallo ) as discoverer (or inventor) of the Aids… I mean… HTLV-III … I mean, LAV… "virus."

  – Dr. Montagnier Gets a Pail-full of Money from Sweden

But which is it? LAV, HTLV-III, or HIV? why all the name changes? Why the quotation marks? Why the bad attitude toward our esteemed Dr. Luc?

Perhaps some of you will be kind enough to come along and help tell the story of Dr. Montagnier, and his amazing "discovery" – stimulated cell-cultures, swollen lymph nodes, window-dressers, and all.

In the meantime, a few quotes to get you started. See if they make you scratch your head even in the slightest, as you try to stick to the orthodox definition, of "Sida." (That's French, you know, just like Dr. M.).

Interviewer: Why no purification?

Montagnier: "We saw some particles but they did not have the morphology [shape] typical of retroviruses … They were very different. Relatively different. So with the culture it took many hours to find the first pictures. It was a Roman effort! It's easy to criticise after the event. What we did not have, and I have always recognised it, was that it was truly the cause of AIDS."

Montagnier: "I repeat, we did not purify." [1] [2] [3]

Interviewer: So the stage of purification is not necessary? 

Montagnier: "No, no, it's not necessary."

Interviewer: Gallo did it?

Montagnier: Gallo? .. I don't know if he really purified. I don't believe so.

Complex stuff! So, what is purification? What is LAV? And what did it do? What was HTLV-III, and where did it come from? What were the proteins from the HTLV-III experiments used to make and manufacture?

But, after all, what does it matter. Sweden has spoken – Montagnier says he didn't need to purify [isolate a virus], and he won the Nobel Prize! (Not Bob Gallo ).

So, I guess we're going with Luc Montagnier's definition of "Sida" from now on? Well, hold onto your hats, and leave your worries behind, and make sure you've got a smile on your face – because it's not the "LAV" that's causing your "Sida," it's….

Montagnier: "I think we should put the same weight now on the co-factors as we have on HIV."

But, what's a co-factor? Is this a cofactor? Do co-factors cause Sida?

And of course, we must immediately stop telling people that being "LAV" positive (LAV is what Lucky Luc called his discovery – a "swollen-lymph-node-associated virus") is a death sentence. According to the expert:

Montagnier: "Psychological factors are critical in supporting immune function. If you suppress this psychological support by telling someone he's condemned to die, your words alone will have condemned him." [4]

Montagnier: "AIDS does not inevitably lead to death, especially if you suppress the co-factors that support the disease. It is very important to tell this to people who are infected." [5] [6] [7]

So, onward and upward. We've got psychological factors to un-suppress, and co-factors to treat! Sida will be conquered! (Even though it's no longer (and never was) a heterosexual problem…unless you're African. So say the experts! So say we all!)