But now, given their action, the finding of virus DNA in Rotateq and the inevitable hysteria of the vaccine activists, some parents will be confused enough to delay vaccinating their children.
Most have one or more treatments on the market that act as HIV virus inhibitors to prevent the HIV virus from inserting the DNA genetic code necessary for replication into healthy cells.
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Because using a new ultra-sensitive assay, small amounts of DNA from a pig virus were detected in the vaccine preparation.
By using a virus to smuggle in a piece of DNA code into cells, the crucial genes could be turned on and the athlete would gain tremendous advantages in strength or endurance.
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Bits of chopped up DNA from the adenovirus, a virus that causes a pretty severe cold.
This would change when the virus crossed paths with cells containing a very specific DNA sequence, a sequence that would act as a molecular key to unlock secondary functions that were not so benign.
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"In the past you needed to do a culture" to test a person's virus, says Jorge Leon, former head of DNA testing at Quest Diagnostics (nyse: DGX - news - people ) and now president of molecular diagnostics consulting firm Leomics Associates.
This is because for infection to occur, the virus must invade immune cells and incorporate itself into the DNA, where it can remain dormant for decades.
Both vaccines work by inserting bits of HIV DNA into the human immune system using an innocuous virus.
Today, many women's Paps undergo an additional DNA-based test to see if they harbor the HPV virus, which can spur cervical cancer.
Protein Sciences uses recombinant DNA technology to produce its vaccines using a single protein from the virus.
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The HIV retrovirus, in particular, is a single-stranded RNA virus that duplicates itself in a host cell by converting its genetic code into double-stranded DNA that is then inserted into the host cell.
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Protein subunit vaccines: Instead of training the immune system to recognize DNA, these vaccines train it to recognize bits of proteins that are part of the virus.
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