[rightwingextremist1776]

I thought HIV originated in monkeys.....

[chopperman]

I thought HIV originated in monkeys.....

I did too. Maybe it was sheep.

[Jeff Chandler]

I thought HIV originated in monkeys.....

And now those monkeys are going to find out that payback is hell!

[wolf78]

Scientists make HIV strain that can infect monkeys

Lies, lies, that would mean that there is an evolutionary relationsship between apes and humans... [/sarcasm]

I thought HIV originated in monkeys.....

It did, but it has been mutating for decades.

Why not just go to Africa and catch some of the monkeys who helped start it all?

SIV is still being studied, but SIV and HIV have evolved away from each other, so the findings become less relevant.

All to prevent a disease that is spread through irresponsible human behavior.

Wouldn't all this money and research be better spent trying to cure something that can't be stopped by simply wearing a condom?

That's not the way the hippocratic oath works. Reminds me of that Scrubs episode where Dr. Cox preaches something like: We cannot change patients. We tell them to change their behaviour, knowing they won't and when they come back, we'll treat them again for the same thing.

BTW: Among preventable diseases, HIV/AIDS in most developed nations is a drop in the bucket, the lifetime medical costs for obesity (diabetes, heart disease) are about the same, but obesity is far more common.