New evidence: Human gamma retroviruses have too large a sequence diversity to be a lab contaminant

http://imeassoc.com/New_XMRV_evidence.html

IMEA

INTERNATIONAL ME ASSOCIATION

New evidence: Human gamma retroviruses have too large a sequence diversity to be a lab contaminant XMRV is a colloquial name for a xenotropic polytopicgamma-retrovirus.

Polytropic and modified polytropic gammas have also been detected in over 90% of patients with ME, but as yet have no colloquial name.

A small group of retro virologists, including John Coffin, Myra McClure and Greg Towers, are convinced that these viruses cannot infect humans.

They have been attempting to prove their belief that this discovery represents nothing but laboratory contamination.

One of the gamma retroviruses discovered shows very little sequence variation in one of its genes in the three isolates sequenced thus far, but a thousand positive findings have not yet been fully sequenced.

This has been used as evidence that the virus is the product of a lab experiment and perfectly
harmless, despite its proven ability to induce an immune response in human subjects.

However, it now emerges that the virus detected in some people is showing considerable sequence variation, which the contamination belief cannot account for.

The following sequence has now been entered into the Genbank:

*Partial molecular cloning with novel consensus PCR primers of the murine JHK retrovirus of human origin, a variant of the Xenotropic murine leukemia virus-related virus (XMRV)*: http://1.usa.gov/qGISo8

Xenotropic MuLV-related virus 5' LTR, partial sequence; and gag protein (gag) gene, partial cds
GenBank: HM119591.1

Halligan,B.D., Sun,H.-Y., Cashdollar,L.W., Kushnaryov,V.M. and Grossberg,S.E.

This new sequence, along with the new complete proviral genome, isolate S-162 (http://1.usa.gov/n9TgYW) from Lithuania, the recent addition of sequences from the Bill
Switzer at the CDC (http://bit.ly/ozgzUa), and the polytropic and modified polytriopic sequences from the WPI (http://1.usa.gov/q9hMaB), greatly increases the diversity of these viruses.

John Coffins study, 'Recombinant Origin of the Retrovirus XMRV' (Paprotka, 2011), cannot explain human gamma retrovirus sequences with variation of this magnitude.

The conclusions in Paprotka et al. are clearly wrong.

The paper needs investigating as glaring flaws in methodology have already been revealed.

This easily explains why the people who set their assays to detect VP-62 were unable to detect wild-type virus.



International ME Association
3rd August 2011