The man who says science blew its shot at an AIDS vaccine

PLUS: Cold cases, the future of fertility, and Rachel Talibart's amazing waves. [View this email in your browser]( [logo]( [[WIRED Magazine]6.3.18]( Thirty five million people have died of AIDS since the beginning of the epidemic. You would think researchers would have come up with a vaccine by now. But AIDS is different from other diseases. See, when the human body [encounters most pathogens]( it mounts a defense and (usually, but of course not always) shoos away the invader. "The overwhelming majority of people survive, and when they do they completely eradicate the virus," says Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. "[And not only that, but they're immune for the rest of their lives.]( Not so with AIDS. "The virus' glycoproteins change slightly from generation to generation, allowing it to evade detection," writes [deputy editor Adam Rogers](. "It doffs its old livery, in other words, and puts on a slightly different outfit, one that somehow evades the immune system's surveillance tactics." That makes a vaccination strategy, which would typically harness the body's own capacity for defeating disease, particularly challenging. And so far, the two approaches to developing such a vaccine—one that uses what you might call a classical trial-and-error method and one that uses a more modern genetic-engineering approach—have been unsuccessful. Actually, most scientists now see classic vaccinology as so quixotic, so unlikely to produce results in a virus as complex and mutable as HIV they've never even considered giving it a shot. Nevertheless, biophysical chemist Burt Dorman, now 80, has been pushing to do the classical method of vaccine research on HIV since the 1980s. "Dorman thinks that the vaccine community's resistance to classical vaccinology is an example of bias, of cleaving to a set of ideas in the absence of evidence for them," writes Rogers. "The fact that Dorman has never gotten to try his approach is certainly a missed opportunity. And, perhaps, a tragedy." PLUS: [Cold cases]( the future of [fertility]( and Rachel Talibart's [amazing waves](. Space These Spinning Disks of Gas and Dust Reveal How Planets Get Made By Joshua Sokol Detailed images of disks swirling around young stars show the details of how solar systems come to be. Justice The Key to Cracking Cold Cases Might Be Genealogy Sites By Megan Molteni A forensic DNA firm that works with law enforcement says it has uploaded 100 files to GEDmatch, the site that helped identify the alleged Golden State Killer. The Quantified Ovary Silicon Valley Takes on the Future of Fertility By Arielle Pardes New start-ups use wearable technology and mail-order blood tests to help women get pregnant and make sense of their future baby-making options. Longreads Did Science Miss Its Best Shot at an AIDS Vaccine? By Adam Rogers For 35 years, researchers have been trying to beat the virus that causes AIDS. For just as long, Burt Dorman has been saying he has a faster way. [WIRED Magazine Subscription] Get Wired Get unlimited access to an ad-free WIRED.com + a free YubiKey. Subscribe now. Gear All the Gear, Gadgets, and Apps We Loved in May By Josie Colt A look back at everything we tested and liked this month, as well as the most promising updates to the stuff we're already using. music Analog Surround-Sound Is Reborn on a New Quadraphonic LP By Michael Calore A new recording by synthesizer artist Suzanne Ciani is being released on a long-forgotten analog surround-sound format. Photo Gallery You've Never Seen Waves Like This Before By Michael Hardy Photographer Rachael Talibart spends months waiting for the perfect shot. Tariff Tussle Why the US-China ‘Trade War’ Remains a War of Words By Zachary Karabell President Trump again threatens tariffs on Chinese goods, but if the past weeks are any guide, such harsh words may not translate into harsh actions. Deals We Dug Up the Best PS4 Console Bundles and Deals By Jeffrey Van Camp If you're hunting for a PS4 or PS4 Pro, these are the cheapest bundles and deals you're going to find. [WIRED Magazine]( [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Pinterest]( [Youtube]( [Instagram]( This e-mail was sent to you by WIRED. To ensure delivery to your inbox (not bulk or junk folders), please add our e-mail address, [wired@newsletters.wired.com]( to your address book. View our [Privacy Policy]( [Unsubscribe]( Copyright © Condé Nast 2018. One World Trade Center, New York, NY 10007. All rights reserved.