BigShinyThing

The BBC and the Terrence Higgins Trust have collaborated on this ad to ‘raise awareness of HIV amongst 16-34 year olds’, although the language used (with references to ‘barebacking’ and ‘fisting’) makes it clear who the target audience is. The series of films also direct viewers to an interactive website, where they can find out more about HIV and AIDS and customise their own GI Jonny virtual action figure. Their own creation can then be forwarded to friends and downloaded to Facebook (this bit didn’t seem to be working when we checked it out).

According to the Terrence Higgins Trust, the number of people in the UK with the virus has risen from 30,000 in 2001 to 70,000 this year. Research by the charity also suggests there is still widespread ignorance about HIV, particularly amongst young people. A recent poll of 1,000 people found more than 20% of people aged 18 to 24 mistakenly thought there was a cure for HIV. Among the same age group almost a quarter believed condoms had holes in them which let HIV through. So the more information, the better then. Weird though that it took the agency — in this case Kontraband — to get the thing up on YouTube.

The scientists, from Darwin’s Crocodylus Park, a tourism and research centre, are now collecting blood from the animals in the hope of developing an antibiotic for humans.

Due to their ultra-violent lifestyle, the crocodile’s immune system is much more powerful than that of humans. Says one of the scientists on the trial, “They tear the limbs off each other and despite the fact they live in this environment with all of these microbes, they heal up very rapidly and normally almost always without infection.”

Another explains, “If you take a test tube of HIV and add crocodile serum it will have a greater effect than human serum. It can kill a much greater number of HIV vital organisms.” The crocodile immune system works differently from the human system by attacking bacteria as soon as an infection occurs in the body. Sounding like something out of a video game, the scientists say, “The crocodile has an immune system which attaches to the bacteria and tears it apart and it explodes. It’s like putting a gun to the head of the bacteria and pulling the trigger.”

The study hopes to extract enough crocodile blood to isolate the powerful antibodies and eventually develop an antibiotic for humans. However, the crocodile’s immune system may be simply too powerful for humans and may need to be synthesised for human consumption.

The scientists admit that, “There is a lot of work to be done. It may take years before we can get to the stage where we have something to market.”

Reuters has the full story.