News for hackers. Stuff that matters.
Re:Crowd-funded HIV vaccine project sparks debate by dnautics on Monday February 10, 2014 @02:39PM (#7213177)
I think this is a total hit piece.

"They’re preying on people who are desperate for a vaccine,"

As a contributor (and a scientist) - I don't feel like I've been preyed upon, at all.

Re:Crowd-funded HIV vaccine project sparks debate by nickthemagicman on Monday February 10, 2014 @04:06PM (#7213824)
This is the way science should be funded.

Imagine if the pace of medical research moved at the pace of javascript frameworks.

We would all be fucking immortal. There would probably be some mutants though. But you gotta crack some eggs.

Re:Crowd-funded HIV vaccine project sparks debate by Fomite on Monday February 10, 2014 @04:47PM (#7214113)
"Fail fast, fail often" is less of a good thing when it's actual people's lives.
Re:Crowd-funded HIV vaccine project sparks debate by jseliger on Monday February 10, 2014 @08:07PM (#7214986)
"Fail fast, fail often" is less of a good thing when it's actual people's lives.

It depends. A lot of people are already losing their lives through inaction.

This is slightly tangential, Alex Tabarrok's book Launching the Innovation Renaissance is good on the subject of FDA inertia and spending too much time trying to prove efficacy and too little emphasis on experimentation and rapid iteration: http://www.amazon.com/Launching-Innovation-Renaissance-Marke... .

Re:Crowd-funded HIV vaccine project sparks debate by toomuchtodo on Tuesday February 11, 2014 @01:23AM (#7216135)
Unless I've signed on the dotted line and know the risks.

I'm willing to chance death for perpetual regeneration. No pain, no gain.

Re:Crowd-funded HIV vaccine project sparks debate by nickthemagicman on Monday February 10, 2014 @06:43PM (#7214621)
Damn bro you're dropping eggs of wisdom on all of us.

I agree. You give the kids a PCR machine and suddenly everyone is dead.

Better stop now before it's too late.

Re:Crowd-funded HIV vaccine project sparks debate by icinnamon on Monday February 10, 2014 @04:22PM (#7213932)
Hi- Ian from Immunity Project here. Thank you for your support! We know our fundraising approach for this experiment is novel, and we believe it's the fastest way to get it done.
Re:Crowd-funded HIV vaccine project sparks debate by nickthemagicman on Monday February 10, 2014 @06:54PM (#7214658)
Thanks for stepping out on a limb and doing something disruptive and new!

We need more open source science!

Re:Crowd-funded HIV vaccine project sparks debate by alexnking on Monday February 10, 2014 @03:23PM (#7213522)
I'm probably missing something obvious here, but who would be desperate for a vaccine?

If there were offering a cure, then I could see a complaint where they were preying on people with the disease who were desperate for a cure. Since that's not the case, do they mean the contributors, wanting to help develop the vaccine, are desperate, and being preyed upon? Because I hardly think that applies.

Re:Crowd-funded HIV vaccine project sparks debate by gregcrv on Monday February 10, 2014 @04:57PM (#7214158)
Yes, and I prefer many "desperate" healthy people choosing to give little money to fund alternative researches (even if sometimes it fails) than big pharmaceutical companies bankrupting "desperate" ill patients (and families) for a cure that's not guaranty to save them. Reading this http://priceonomics.com/the-rapidly-escalating-price-of-canc... makes me think that drug industry is broken.
Re:Crowd-funded HIV vaccine project sparks debate by Fomite on Monday February 10, 2014 @03:00PM (#7213325)
I didn't view it as a hit piece, because that's not the author talking. And while I don't necessarily agree with it, I do think that they're long on "Crowdfunded free HIV vaccine" and short on specifics.

And I'd still be pleased as punch if it worked.

Re:Crowd-funded HIV vaccine project sparks debate by reidrubsamen on Monday February 10, 2014 @04:19PM (#7213914)
Hi! This is Reid, CEO of immunity project. Thanks for your comments! Our previous work is under review by a PRJ - our crowd funding is allowing us to do additional work which we will try to publish as quickly as possible! We have our white paper on our web site - if you want to discuss more details please shoot us an email at [email protected]
Re:Crowd-funded HIV vaccine project sparks debate by icinnamon on Monday February 10, 2014 @04:31PM (#7214015)
Ian from Immunity Project here. Here's a link to our White Paper, as well: http://www.immunityproject.org/documents/Immunity_Project_Wh...
Re:Crowd-funded HIV vaccine project sparks debate by Fomite on Monday February 10, 2014 @04:31PM (#7214008)
Thanks for the reply - I know my comments sound a little harsh, but I really am rooting for you guys.

I read over the white paper, but honestly, my expertise is way down the road from where you guys are right now.