HL23V
Appearance
HL23V was reputedly a type C
leukocytes in the laboratory of Robert Gallo, which would have been the first cancer-causing retrovirus isolated from human sera.[1] It was later shown to be a laboratory contaminant of three monkey viruses. The journal Nature, which had published the original research, later retracted the article. Investigative journalist John Crewdson, writing in 2003, described how Gallo pretended mysterious laboratory accidents such as the unplugging of a laboratory freezer to excuse his failure to share samples of "HL23V" to researchers.[2]
As "HL23V" would have been the first human retrovirus discovered, bringing attention to Gallo and thus scientific prizes, observers noted that "23" was the number of Robert Gallo's birthday.
Later in 1986,
HIV-2. This similarly was determined to be a contaminant.[3]
See also
- Simian sarcoma associated virus(SSAV or SSAV-1), one of two associated viruses comprising HL23V
- HTLV-1, the actual first human pathogenic retrovirus discovered in 1981
References
- PMID 46123.
- ISBN 9780316090049.
- )
Further reading
- Science Fictions: A Scientific Mystery, a Massive Cover-up, and the Dark Legacy of ISBN 0316090042, 2002, John Crewdson