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Revision as of 07:28, 14 November 2008 editSmithBlue (talk | contribs)2,188 edits →The OPV AIDS hypothesis: begin presentation of fuller picture, rem irrelevant and POV material - see discusion page.← Previous edit Revision as of 08:01, 14 November 2008 edit undoSmithBlue (talk | contribs)2,188 edits →The OPV AIDS hypothesis: ref The River, add Nature co-authored letter? paper? article?Next edit →
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Hooper first encountered the OPV Aids hypothesis when he read a 1992 article in '']'' magazine by freelance journalist ]. Curtis described a theory advanced by Louis Pascal that the ] (HIV) was inadvertently caused in the late 1950s in the ] by ]'s testing of an oral ] (OPV) on human subjects. This is the "]." Hooper first encountered the OPV Aids hypothesis when he read a 1992 article in '']'' magazine by freelance journalist ]. Curtis described a theory advanced by Louis Pascal that the ] (HIV) was inadvertently caused in the late 1950s in the ] by ]'s testing of an oral ] (OPV) on human subjects. This is the "]."


The ], in December 1997, published a letter<ref>Hooper, Edward, retrieved 14 November 2008</ref>, by Hooper, which described the case of an early AIDS death, that of ]. Hooper warned of the danger of zoonosis and also refered to the OPV AIDS hypotheisis, "Others, members of the iatrogenic school, believe that the hand of medical science may have played an unintended role. They propose that the capture of monkeys and apes for scientific purposes, or the administration in Africa of vaccines made in substrates of primate kidney, may have been the initial means whereby the precursor simian viruses were transferred to humans." The ], in December 1997, published a letter<ref>Hooper, Edward retrieved 14 November 2008</ref>, by Hooper, which described the case of an early AIDS death, that of ]. Hooper warned of the danger of zoonosis and also refered to the OPV AIDS hypotheisis, "Others, members of the iatrogenic school, believe that the hand of medical science may have played an unintended role. They propose that the capture of monkeys and apes for scientific purposes, or the administration in Africa of vaccines made in substrates of primate kidney, may have been the initial means whereby the precursor simian viruses were transferred to humans."


Hooper, after travelling in Africa, Europe, and the United States for 7 years of research, published a book ''The River''. In it Hooper surmised that an experimental oral polio vaccine prepared in ] kidneys or blood may indeed have been the route through which the ] (SIV) passed to humans and mutated into HIV sometime between 1957 and 1959. Hooper advocated for further scientific investigation of the OPV/AIDS hypothesis and for the observation of appropriate precautions with regard to future use of animal tissue culture in medical applications, particularly in the research and development of AIDS vaccines. Hooper, after travelling in Africa, Europe, and the United States for 7 years of research, in 1999 published a book ''The River: A journey back to the source of HIV and AIDS''<ref>Hooper, Edward The river : a journey to the source of HIV and AIDS Boston, MA : Little, Brown and Co ISBN:0316372617 9780316372619 </ref>. In it Hooper surmised that an experimental oral polio vaccine prepared in ] kidneys or blood may indeed have been the route through which the ] (SIV) passed to humans and mutated into HIV sometime between 1957 and 1959. Hooper advocated for further scientific investigation of the OPV/AIDS hypothesis and for the observation of appropriate precautions with regard to future use of animal tissue culture in medical applications, particularly in the research and development of AIDS vaccines.

Also in 1999 Hooper co-authored letter to ]. "An African HIV-1 sequence from 1959 and implications for the origin of the epidemic" announced the discovery of the oldest confirmed sample of human tissue that shows the presence of HIV-1. The sample from an archival sample of plasma collected from an anonymous donor in the city of Leopoldville, Belgian Congo (now Kinshasa) in 1959. The researchers wrote, "Multiple phylogenetic analyses not only authenticate this case as the oldest known HIV-1 infection, but also place its viral sequence near the ancestral node of subtypes B and D in the major group, indicating that these HIV-1 subtypes, and perhaps all major-group viruses, may have evolved from a single introduction into the African population not long before 1959."


With the enthusiastic support of the eminent ] ], Hooper was invited to take part in a symposium at ], the first time a non-scientist had ever been invited to such a discussion. Hooper's presentation and data were heavily criticized and rejected by scientists at the gathering;<ref>{{cite journal |author=Plotkin SA, Teuwen DE, Prinzie A, Desmyter J |title=Postscript relating to new allegations made by Edward Hooper at The Royal Society Discussion Meeting on 11 September 2000 |journal=Philos. Trans. R. Soc. Lond., B, Biol. Sci. |volume=356 |issue=1410 |pages=825–9 |year=2001 |pmid=11405926 |doi=10.1098/rstb.2001.0875}}</ref> the vaccine expert ] wrote at the time that "Testimony by eyewitnesses, documents of the time, epidemiological analysis, and ancillary phylogenetic, virologic and PCR data all concur to reject the hypothesis as false and without factual foundation."<ref>{{cite journal |author=Plotkin SA |title=Untruths and consequences: the false hypothesis linking CHAT type 1 polio vaccination to the origin of human immunodeficiency virus |journal=Philos. Trans. R. Soc. Lond., B, Biol. Sci. |volume=356 |issue=1410 |pages=815–23 |year=2001 |pmid=11405925 |doi=10.1098/rstb.2001.0861}}</ref> With the enthusiastic support of the eminent ] ], Hooper was invited to take part in a symposium at ], the first time a non-scientist had ever been invited to such a discussion. Hooper's presentation and data were heavily criticized and rejected by scientists at the gathering;<ref>{{cite journal |author=Plotkin SA, Teuwen DE, Prinzie A, Desmyter J |title=Postscript relating to new allegations made by Edward Hooper at The Royal Society Discussion Meeting on 11 September 2000 |journal=Philos. Trans. R. Soc. Lond., B, Biol. Sci. |volume=356 |issue=1410 |pages=825–9 |year=2001 |pmid=11405926 |doi=10.1098/rstb.2001.0875}}</ref> the vaccine expert ] wrote at the time that "Testimony by eyewitnesses, documents of the time, epidemiological analysis, and ancillary phylogenetic, virologic and PCR data all concur to reject the hypothesis as false and without factual foundation."<ref>{{cite journal |author=Plotkin SA |title=Untruths and consequences: the false hypothesis linking CHAT type 1 polio vaccination to the origin of human immunodeficiency virus |journal=Philos. Trans. R. Soc. Lond., B, Biol. Sci. |volume=356 |issue=1410 |pages=815–23 |year=2001 |pmid=11405925 |doi=10.1098/rstb.2001.0861}}</ref>

Revision as of 08:01, 14 November 2008

Edward Hooper (born 1951) is a British journalist best known for his book, The River, which investigates the origins and early epidemiology of AIDS and makes a case for the OPV AIDS hypothesis, the controversial and disputed claim that the AIDS virus was accidentally created by scientists testing an experimental polio vaccine.

The OPV AIDS hypothesis

Main article: OPV AIDS hypothesis

Hooper first encountered the OPV Aids hypothesis when he read a 1992 article in Rolling Stone magazine by freelance journalist Tom Curtis. Curtis described a theory advanced by Louis Pascal that the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) was inadvertently caused in the late 1950s in the Belgian Congo by Hilary Koprowski's testing of an oral polio vaccine (OPV) on human subjects. This is the "OPV AIDS hypothesis."

The British Medical Journal, in December 1997, published a letter, by Hooper, which described the case of an early AIDS death, that of Arvid Noe. Hooper warned of the danger of zoonosis and also refered to the OPV AIDS hypotheisis, "Others, members of the iatrogenic school, believe that the hand of medical science may have played an unintended role. They propose that the capture of monkeys and apes for scientific purposes, or the administration in Africa of vaccines made in substrates of primate kidney, may have been the initial means whereby the precursor simian viruses were transferred to humans."

Hooper, after travelling in Africa, Europe, and the United States for 7 years of research, in 1999 published a book The River: A journey back to the source of HIV and AIDS. In it Hooper surmised that an experimental oral polio vaccine prepared in chimpanzee kidneys or blood may indeed have been the route through which the simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) passed to humans and mutated into HIV sometime between 1957 and 1959. Hooper advocated for further scientific investigation of the OPV/AIDS hypothesis and for the observation of appropriate precautions with regard to future use of animal tissue culture in medical applications, particularly in the research and development of AIDS vaccines.

Also in 1999 Hooper co-authored letter to Nature. "An African HIV-1 sequence from 1959 and implications for the origin of the epidemic" announced the discovery of the oldest confirmed sample of human tissue that shows the presence of HIV-1. The sample from an archival sample of plasma collected from an anonymous donor in the city of Leopoldville, Belgian Congo (now Kinshasa) in 1959. The researchers wrote, "Multiple phylogenetic analyses not only authenticate this case as the oldest known HIV-1 infection, but also place its viral sequence near the ancestral node of subtypes B and D in the major group, indicating that these HIV-1 subtypes, and perhaps all major-group viruses, may have evolved from a single introduction into the African population not long before 1959."

With the enthusiastic support of the eminent evolutionary biologist W. D. Hamilton, Hooper was invited to take part in a symposium at Royal Society of London, the first time a non-scientist had ever been invited to such a discussion. Hooper's presentation and data were heavily criticized and rejected by scientists at the gathering; the vaccine expert Stanley Plotkin wrote at the time that "Testimony by eyewitnesses, documents of the time, epidemiological analysis, and ancillary phylogenetic, virologic and PCR data all concur to reject the hypothesis as false and without factual foundation."

Currently, additional scientific evidence has led to a rejection of the OPV AIDS hypothesis by the scientific community.

Hooper continues to promote the hypothesis on his website, aidsorigins.com, where he criticizes the research and conduct of many of the scientists involved in the investigation and alleges a conspiracy to silence the hypothesis.

References

  1. Hooper, Edward Sailors and star-bursts, and the arrival of HIV BMJ 1997;315:1689-1691 (20 December)retrieved 14 November 2008
  2. Hooper, Edward The river : a journey to the source of HIV and AIDS Boston, MA : Little, Brown and Co ISBN:0316372617 9780316372619
  3. Plotkin SA, Teuwen DE, Prinzie A, Desmyter J (2001). "Postscript relating to new allegations made by Edward Hooper at The Royal Society Discussion Meeting on 11 September 2000". Philos. Trans. R. Soc. Lond., B, Biol. Sci. 356 (1410): 825–9. doi:10.1098/rstb.2001.0875. PMID 11405926.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  4. Plotkin SA (2001). "Untruths and consequences: the false hypothesis linking CHAT type 1 polio vaccination to the origin of human immunodeficiency virus". Philos. Trans. R. Soc. Lond., B, Biol. Sci. 356 (1410): 815–23. doi:10.1098/rstb.2001.0861. PMID 11405925.
  5. For summaries of scientific opinion on the topic, see:
    • Cohen J (2001). "AIDS origins. Disputed AIDS theory dies its final death". Science. 292 (5517): 615. PMID 11330303.
    • Worobey M, Santiago ML, Keele BF; et al. (2004). "Origin of AIDS: contaminated polio vaccine theory refuted". Nature. 428 (6985): 820. doi:10.1038/428820a. PMID 15103367. {{cite journal}}: Explicit use of et al. in: |author= (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  6. AIDSorigins.com, Edward Hooper's website

Bibliography

External links

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