TheSciNerd

I just read your blood draw vials. They say HVTN 505, which is the clinical trial in which you are enrolled. I think you are confused about what you are receiving. You aren't being injected with a synthetic form of HIV, the clinical trial is using a very small part of the HIV genome spliced into either unrelated DNA or an unrelated virus that usually causes a cold, called adenovirus. Neither of these could possible give you HIV or AIDS. The hope is that the small portion of the HIV genome that is in the DNA or cold virus that you have been given is enough for your immune system to recognize it and in the future, be able to fight off HIV if you are ever actually infected.

Here is the clinical trial information for HVTN 505: http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00865566

Please see the AMA of another HVTN 505 participant. He is much more knowledgeable. http://www.reddit.com/r/gaybros/comments/144f1o/iama_hiv_negative_gaybro_who_recently_completed/

Hello, scientists. I am also a scientist.

Have you ever experienced any discrimination in the military being an Apache?

What do you work on?