w w w .w e sterngazette.c a • @uw ogazette
Murray tosses hat in
thegazette Hiding nerf guns since 1906
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Ontario minister of training, colleges and university resigns in hopes of heading party. >> pg. 3 today high 6 low -4
tomorrow high 7 low -1
canada’s only Daily Student Newspaper • founded 1906
Volume 106, Issue 36
HIV vaccine trials show positive results Cam Smith News Editor Promising results have emerged from Western laboratories in the quest to provide a vaccine for HIV/ AIDS. Yesterday, at a press conference in the Siebens Drake Research Institute, Western and Sumagen Canada announced the results of phase one of human clinical trials on the trial vaccine, called SAV001-H. “There have been no adverse effects and immunological responses to date,” Dong Joon Kim, a spokesperson for Sumagen Canada, announced. “This is a very important milestone for us. It has given Sumagen Canada great encouragement to proceed on our long journey to reach the final goal for all human kind.” To bring the vaccination to fruition, Sumagen Canada has committed enormous resources. “Up to now, our company has invested up to $16 million,” Kim said. “In order to finish phase two, I expect $30 to $40 million, and to finish phase three, up to $100 million.” While this is not the first potential vaccine to make it to human clinical trials, none thus far have appeared as promising. “Up to now, we’ve had no successful vaccine,” Kim said. “Theoretically, we expect our [newest]
vaccine will be able to prevent HIV/AIDS.” Phase one is the first of three that need to be accomplished before the vaccine can be distributed and used by the greater populace. In this phase, researchers administer the trial vaccination to patients already infected with HIV to ensure there will be no adverse effects from the medication itself. With the success of phase one, Kim is already anticipating positive results from phase two. “In phase two, we will need much larger treatment groups, and we expect strong immune responses from healthy humans,” he explained. “And, in phase two, we can almost expect the success of our vaccine.” While the first phase of trials was only intended to ensure there would be no negative side effects, the researchers found much more than that. “If the vaccine works, you do expect to get an increase in the levels of the antibody,” Chil-Yong Kang, lead researcher of the vaccine, explained. “We do see as high as a 32-fold increase [in the antibodies]. So that’s why we are so excited […], and we are now proceeding to phase two of human clinical trials.” This particular vaccine is unique, according to Kang, because researchers are using what is known as a ‘killed whole virus,’ which uses inactive samples of
Andrei Calinescu GAZETTE
the virus in the vaccination. Killed whole virus vaccinations have proven successful in curing illnesses in the past, like polio. “Many others are using recumbent viruses and protein-based vaccines. Unfortunately, none of those strategies have worked,” Kang explained. “We are using the killed whole virus, the advantages are to provide the native structure of the virus.” This method has been unpopular in the production of HIV vaccinations because of perceived risks and quantity issues, all of which
have been resolved by Kang and his team. “No one knew how to produce a safe vaccine, and we genetically modified it to make sure the virus we use is safe,” Kang explained. “People didn’t know how to make larger quantities of killed whole virus. Again, we genetically modified it, and over the years we learned how to produce it in larger quantities.” For Kang, the ramifications of his research are enormous. However, his focus remains on the benefit of humanity.
“My personal motivation is that I am a virologist, and I like to save lives,” he said. “If we can eradicate HIV, or prevent infection, certainly that will be the happiest achievement I can accomplish.” Despite the promise of the vaccine, even in the earliest phases of its trial, Kang acknowledged the future remained uncertain. “We don’t anticipate any problems because our results are clean and clear,” he explained. “I have no doubt about phase two human clinical trials. Phase three, God only knows.”
ITS patches accidental OWL security breach Jesica Hurst News Editor
file photo
Some Western students may have noticed a difference in the content available on their OWL workspace last month, as the university has confirmed the online learning management system was compromised on October 22. According to an email sent to affected students by John Doerksen, vice-provost academic programs and students, the compromise granted 97 students access to administrative areas within the program, including Gradebook, the grades management component. Doerksen explained it was a Western student who discovered the flaw. “This happened to a student, who brought it forward to a faculty member, and they informed ITS,” Doerksen said. “In a nutshell, it was a defect in the software whereby if a
user pressed the ‘enter’ key repeatedly, it would open up administrative functionality within OWL.”
Going into the future, ITS should take a step back and actually do some serious testing ahead of time when implementing a new software. —Keith Horwood
University Students’ Council elections hacker
Although Western was made aware of the compromise on the 22, the email explaining what happened wasn’t sent out to affected students until November 1—over a week later. According to Doerksen, the university delayed to avoid raising concerns without a complete
analysis and understanding of the situation. “It affected 390 course sections, so we needed to try to understand the scope of what had happened,” he said. “The sense of urgency around the announcement wasn’t quite so great because we knew a fix was in place.” “Although the information that students may have been able to view fell outside of our privacy policy with respect to student information, it’s not really sensitive personal information.” Deana Ruston, a second-year health sciences student, was one of the 97 students affected by the breach. “I was actually on one of my class sections on OWL, and then all of the sudden I could see all of this administrative stuff, like different quizzes and options I’ve obviously >> see ITS pg.3