In this week’s podcast: • President Joe Biden goes to work on LGBTQ issues on Day One including reversing the transgender military ban, expanding workplace protections and more • Pete Buttigieg introduced his husband Chasten at his Senate confirmation hearing for Transportation Secretary • Dr. Rachel Levine could become the highest ranking transgender official in the U.S. government • The FDA approved a new once-a-month injectable HIV medication • The new queer mini-series ‘It’s A Sin’ premieres to rave reviews • Out singer/songwriter Kisos releases his gorgeous new music video ‘He Didn’t Want Me’ All that and more in this episode of The Randy Report As mentioned in the episode, you can email me your suggestions at randyslovacek (at) gmail.com
For the first time, an HIV-positive patient has gone into long-term remission after being treated with a multi-drug cocktail raising hopes of a possible cure on the horizon. The patient, a 34-year-old Brazilian man diagnosed in 2012, was put on a three-drug regimen of antiretroviral therapy (ART) which was intensified with additional antiretrovirals plus a skin cancer preventative called Nicotinamide, a water-soluble version of vitamin B3. Dr. Andrea Savarino, of the Instituto Superiore di Sanitá in Rome, Italy, explained the approach in a presentation to the UK organization AIDSmap prior to the 2020 International AIDS conference in San Francisco. The intensified treatment was stopped after 48 weeks and he returned to his normal three-drug regimen. In March 2019, he began a medically-supervised treatment interruption, stopping his antiretroviral therapy. His last tests (taken on June 22, 2020) show his viral load has remained undetectable, meaning he has maintained viral suppression for more than 65 weeks without antiretroviral medications. The patient’s HIV antibody tests also came back negative. “The virus did not rebound, the viral DNA was maintained negative,” Savarino said. “The antibody response decreased over time, if the antibody decreases, it is possible that the virus has stopped its repetition.” (illustration of HIV cells) While exciting news, Savarino cautions “the result is highly likely not to be reproducible,” describing these results as “preliminary.” He noted that four other patients were given the same regimen but HIV was not found to have been put in check in those individuals. The Brazilian patient is still being monitored to see if HIV has truly been eradicated from his system. Since the early 1980s, scientists have worked diligently to find a cure for HIV, which has infected more than 75 million people and killed almost 33 million since the AIDS epidemic began. Modern medications available today allow patients to control the virus and keep HIV in check, but Reuters reports there are an estimated 38 million people are currently living with HIV. There have been three prior reports of individuals apparently being ‘functionally cured’ (long-term remission) of HIV, but those cases were the result of complicated, invasive bone marrow transplants. All three received transplants from donors with a mutated gene for the CCR5 protein found on white blood cells. While HIV relies on the protein to enter the cells, the mutated version apparently blocks the virus from attaching to those cells. (source: Reuters,AIDSmap)
The clinical trial of a possible HIV vaccine has been abandoned after an interim review of the vaccine showed no effective protection from HIV. The HVTN 702 study, begun in 2016, was being led by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). Over 5,400 HIV-negative individuals whose ages ranged from 18-35 took part in the study across 15 sites in Africa. After showing modest levels of protection in an earlier trial in Thailand, the testing proceeded with a modified version of the vaccine meant to target the strains of HIV most prevalent in South Africa. For the study, 2,694 individuals received the investigational vaccine regimen while 2,689 volunteers received a placebo. An interim review of the study by an independent data and safety monitoring board in January showed 129 HIV infections occurred among the vaccine recipients, and 123 HIV infections occurred among the placebo recipients. “An HIV vaccine is essential to end the global pandemic, and we hoped this vaccine candidate would work. Regrettably, it does not,” said NIAID Director Anthony S. Fauci in a statement. “Research continues on other approaches to a safe and effective HIV vaccine, which I still believe can be achieved.” While the HVTN 702 study will be halted, there are two other HIV vaccines – Imbokodo and Mosaico – currently in late-stage trials. Launched in 2017 in South Africa, human trials of Imbokodo (like Mosaico) attempt to invoke an immune response to a variety of HIV strains using a “mosaic” of immunogens via six injections over four sessions. Mosaico began trials in November of 2019 in South Africa as well but also across 57 sites in the United States, Latin America, and Europe. (source: NIAID)
In this week’s podcast: • A bisexual high school student in NYC is sentenced to 14 years in prison for stabbing one of his bullies to death. • A gay man was threatened by a homophobe for wearing a pink yarmulke. • Scientists have discovered a second genetic mutation that makes people immune to HIV. • A new study indicates that people who use more emojis in their text messages have busier sex lives. • Plus, new music from rising indie artist Parker Matthews “Live For Your Crazy” All that and more in this episode of The Randy Report.
For the first time, researchers have found a way to eliminate HIV from living animals.
The approach combines two new technologies: slow-release antiretroviral therapy (known as LASER ART) which first suppresses the virus, then gene editing (known as CRISPR-Cas9) which effectively ‘slices out’ HIV-infected DNA.
Dr. Kamel Khalili, at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University, told the local CBS News affiliate that, “For the first time, we were able to eliminate completely replication competent virus, HIV, from the infected animal.”
While antiretroviral drugs can decrease HIV in the body, they don’t get the job done entirely. LASER ART drugs consist of nanocrystals which can easily penetrate tissue where HIV may be hiding and slowly release over time, keeping the virus at low levels for weeks.
This means traditional antiretroviral meds don’t have to be administered as often.
Working with a specialists at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, the two teams were able to eliminate HIV in about a third of infected mice.
“The big message of this work is that it takes both CRISPR-Cas9 and virus suppression through a method such as LASER ART, administered together, to produce a cure for HIV infection,” Khalili told ABC News.
“The technique is very safe and efficient and able to completely eliminate the viral DNA forever,” he added.
The next step is to move to FDA-monitored testing on humans. A clinical trial is scheduled to begin in mid-2020.
• I could not resist this adorable pic of Mayor Pete Buttigieg, who encountered this little guy out on the campaign trail. “Even the littlest voices deserve to be heard.”
• Four U.S. Special Operations troops charged in the death of a Green Beret soldier in Mali plotted to record him being sexually assaulted as part of a plan to embarrass him through hazing.
• After two years of harassing Vox reporter Carlos Maza on YouTube for being gay and Latino – we’re talking hundreds of troll comments, doxing Maza and more – the video site finally took some action towards YouTuber Steven Crowder by ‘demonetizing’ his channels.
They didn’t stop the hater from posting his homophobic campaign against Maza, but at least he can’t make any money from it. (p.s. Maza wasn’t happy with the penalty)
Demonetizing 👏 doesn’t 👏 work. 👏
Abusers use it as proof they’re being “discriminated” against. Then they make millions off of selling merch, doing speaking gigs, and getting their followers to support them on Patreon.
The ad revenue isn’t the problem. It’s the platform.
The problem isn’t Crowder and the problem isn’t monetization.
The problem is that @YouTube allows monsters and bullies to become superstars, break YouTube’s rules, build an army of loyal, radicalized followers, and then make millions selling them merch that sustains their work.
In this week’s podcast: • President Joe Biden goes to work on LGBTQ issues on Day One including reversing the transgender military ban, expanding workplace protections and more • Pete Buttigieg introduced his husband Chasten at his Senate confirmation hearing for Transportation Secretary • Dr. Rachel Levine could become the highest ranking transgender official in the U.S. government • The FDA approved a new once-a-month injectable HIV medication • The new queer mini-series ‘It’s A Sin’ premieres to rave reviews • Out singer/songwriter Kisos releases his gorgeous new music video ‘He Didn’t Want Me’ All that and more in this episode of The Randy Report As mentioned in the episode, you can email me your suggestions at randyslovacek (at) gmail.com 
