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Dr. Philip Levine delivers a public lecture called “Viruses and Humanity” on Tuesday, August 21st at 5:00 pm at Doheny Memorial Library, 1875 S. Doheny Drive, Long Beach, CA 90802. Dr. Levine is an Associate Professor of Genetics and Computer Science at Tufts University where he teaches Genetics, Molecular Biology, Molecular Communications, and Computational Biology. Before coming to Tufts, he was Director of Medical Research at Viragen, a molecular diagnostics company, and has a long and distinguished career in research, education, and service in public and private institutions and with large organizations in biotechnology.
Dr. Levine will address the debate over whether the hypothesis that HIV is a virus or a “resistance complex” is correct. He will discuss the reality that HIV first became infectious through a virus-like transmittable agent as opposed to a complex with multiple mechanisms of transmission. Dr. Levine will also explain the challenge of including in current data the many unrepresentative data that existed when HIV was discovered in the 1980s. He will illustrate that how one scientists’ view of the virus as a virus plays a role in how others view the virus, in the same way a perspective on a person’s problems or hopes can have a powerful impact on the abilities of others to act to make a difference.