AIDs: made in lab, or real disease?

By: Anastasia Qualls

Posted: 5/12/06

Our culture is full of conspiracy theories. One of the best-known conspiracy controversies was and is the death of President Kennedy, but there are also more recent events which have caused great controversy. So, I did some digging in my quest to find out: Where did HIV originate?

One of the first conspiracy theories of the origin of AIDS is that the HIV virus was caused by the unintentional contamination of vaccines made for humans. The most common theory in this category maintains the idea that the polio vaccine was grown using the cells of monkey kidneys. These particular cells (supposedly used) were known to be especially vulnerable to cancer and contamination. While many scholars believe this is highly unlikely, they have admitted this theory cannot be completely ruled out.

Another, similar theory is that HIV / AIDS was created by humans in the mid-1970s. AIDS was created by accident during the process of creating a vaccine for Hepatitis B. During the creation of the vaccine, chemicals were combined with other elements without proper control, thus creating HIV / AIDS. Because the virus had not existed before that time, no one knew it was dangerous and the vaccine was sent out of the lab and administered to unsuspecting patients who were looking for a vaccine. HIV then spread throughout the world and was too difficult to trace.

The last theory I will explore is arguable the best conspiracy-type theory. AIDS was created as a form of germ warfare by a government agency. This agency was funded by the U.S. government and used the cover of working toward finding a cure for cancer. This theory further asserts that AIDS is not caused by HIV, but more likely caused by exposure to environmental chemicals, which are now surrounding some communities.

Laugh at these ideas or believe them; after all, no one has ever proven any of them wrong…