[lightman]

Amen! It burns me to no end that a disease that is not in the top 10 killers in this country receives most of the research dollars(AIDS) while 2 diseases that ARE in the top 10 killers, cancer and diabetes, receive a fraction of those dollars

Also one of the most preventable--just don't do IV drugs and keep your zipper up.

[Steely Tom]

Well, in fairness, solving the many mysteries of AIDS will probably lead to breakthroughs in many other diseases, cancer included. AIDS is a disease of the immune system, and involves -- as I understand it -- information transfer within the immune system and from pathogens into the immune system.

It's a little bit like using the manned space program as a way to funnel lots of money into technologies that could be used by the military for satellite communications, re-entry vehicles, precision guidance, miniaturized electronics, etc.