Official Satellite Meeting
Eleni Papadopulos et al.
Dept. Med. Phys. Royal Perth Hospital, Australia
In the mid 1970's Robert Gallo and his associates claimed proof for the existence of the first human retrovirus, HL23V.
They found reverse transcriptase activity in the uncultured lymphocytes of a patient with leukaemia.
When the cell free fluids from lymphocyte cultures were banded in sucrose density gradients at the density of 1.16g/ml they found:
- Retrovirus like particles
- Reverse transcriptase activity
- Proteins which reacted with the patient’s sera
The HL23V antibodies were confirmed by Reinhard Kurth and Robin Weiss, who concluded:
"The serological studies presented have and by others provide indirect evidence that the infectious mode of transmission remains a real possibility in humans, and suggest that infection with an oncovirus [retrovirus] may be extremely widespread"
