Wall Street Journal Examines Study of Medical Outliers to Fight Disease

The Wall Street Journal examines how scientists are studying patients known as "elite controllers," who "are part of a larger group of 'outliers,' people who respond atypically to a disease, often by managing to stop it from progressing or by succumbing especially quickly. If researchers can figure out how elite controllers avoid developing AIDS, they might be able to replicate the defenses in other people through a vaccine or new drug." The article profiles an HIV-positive man who has maintained "an extremely low viral count despite having never received antiretroviral therapy" and includes information on several controllers projects on HIV and hepatitis C have that have yielded promising results (Marcus, 10/20).

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