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FIRING LINE: Flawed studies The controversies surrounding the cat, "cc," cloned at Texas A&M has raised some important questions concerning the issues of animal models of human illness. According to the Viewpoint (The Clone Wars, Feb. 18), The Daily Texan staff asserts that cloning cats could open the door to experiments on cats with feline immunodeficiency virus to find the cure for human HIV. This claim is based on the assumption that FIV is the same disease as HIV. Although it is true that FIV belongs to the same family of viruses as HIV, the viruses in this family (Lentiviruses) are characterized for being species-specific. That is, humans will never develop FIV and cats will never develop HIV. They are two different diseases, so research results from one species can not be directly extrapolated into the other. Millions of people around the world are dying of HIV and AIDS right now. If the millions of dollars spent each year on AIDS research in animals were spent on technologies, such as medications, prevention, health care and social support, that directly help humans, imagine how many lives could be improved and saved. Asserting that animals could ever be effective models for HIV and AIDS in humans is not only illogical and impetuous, but also dangerous. Animal experimentation has, and still does, set back AIDS research and will continue to do so until people realize that animal experimentation is flawed and unreliable. Kamber Sherrod |