Yesterday I had the honour of being part of a public lecture by Dr. Luc Montagnier, co-winner of the 2008 Nobel Prize for Medicine. He was speaking at the University of Calgary Health Sciences Centre to what can only be described as a packed house. In fact, the folks at the Med School say it was the best attended public lecture they had hosted. Not only was the lecture theatre full, but another 100 or so stood out in the foyer watching and listening via closed circuit.
I sent out Twitter postings throughout the lecture and got some interesting feedback from some far flung corners on the exercise. The micro-blogs can be a bit cryptic at times and at other times the science zoomed over me but for a record of what happened, read on.



This picture was taken by Bruce Perrault and is courtesy of the University of Calgary Faculty of Medicine.  For more pictures visit our Picasa site.

• lauriewang: Montagnier lecture a great success! Honoured to be at U of Calgary hosting a Nobel winner. He will be at Epigenetics of Cancer tmw. #hivtalk
• Luxegen: Just heard Nobel Prize winner Dr. Luc Montagnier (co-discoverer of HIV/AIDS) give a talk at my work (U of Calgary). Inspirational! #hivtalk
• mikesgene: Finished off the lecture with the prevention is better than a cure reminder. #hivtalk
• mikesgene: We are fighting 'clever bacteria & viruses' that essentially learn how to resist treatment through small size, biofilm and mobility. #hivtalk
• mikesgene: He is mentioning Papaya Preparation for Parkinson’s. Wasn’t Papaya treatment one of the alternatives Steve McQueen tried for cancer? #hivtalk
• mikesgene: Okay he is now officially way over my head. That will teach me to wash out of Organic Chem lo these many years ago. #hivtalk
• mikesgene: He is addressing oxidative stress in Parkinson’s which was also raised in the roundtable this morning ( look for #nobel ) #hivtalk
• mikesgene: (I guess that's why you can't even see a cosmetic ad without someone raving about antioxidant properties!) #hivtalk
• mikesgene: Oxidative stress from aging, infections, pollutions, radiations, acute muscular efforts but neutralized by antioxidants. #hivtalk
• mikesgene: 35% of people over 65 are suffering from neurologic of psychiatric diseases (European study ) #hivtalk
• mikesgene: 21st Century has to deal with chronic diseases associated with age and environment. #hivtalk
• mikesgene: From there perhaps a Phase 3 to move to a preventative vaccine. #hivtalk
• mikesgene: Dr. Montagnier sees more hope right now for a therapeutic vaccine (not preventative one ) to boost the body's own immune system #hivtalk
• UofCMedicine: An overflow crowd too big for the theatre--listening to Montagnier's lecture right now http://twitpic.com/1epev #hivtalk #hiv #nobel
• mikesgene: Vaccines using the native surface glycoprotein of HIV have not worked. #hivtalk
• mikesgene: Cultural and financial pressure still makes many treatments hard to implement. #hivtalk
• mikesgene: HIV / AIDS 25 years later - still has no cure and no vaccine. Main treatment is to reduce virus load. #hivtalk
• mikesgene: The virus itself has developed a unique protein coat. #hivtalk
• mikesgene: Needless to say there are moments when the science escapes me so excuse the gaps as I try (not always successfully) to figure it out. #hivtalk
• mikesgene: Oxidative stress can cause uninfected lymphocytes to die during HIV infection. #hivtalk
• UofCMedicine: The Montagnier lecture is available as a podcast later. #hivtalk #hiv #nobel http://medicine.ucalgary.ca
• lauriewang: @pinkIndigo are you also not from Calgary but here for the talk today with Montagnier? #hivtalk
• lauriewang: Some media have already arrived, more coming to interview Montagnier and Robert Church. #hivtalk #nobel
• lauriewang: am wondering if it's too hot in the Libin at the moment. #hivtalk
• mikesgene: There are still some people convinced HIV is not the cause of AIDS. "down with ACT UP' protests are AIDS conference. #hivtalk
• lauriewang: @mikesgene wow, didn't know about the woman! #hivtalk
• UofCMedicine: 500 people are hearing Dr. Luc Montagnier speak about his Nobel-prize winning work-largest crowd ever at this venue #hivtalk #hiv #nobel
• mikesgene: AIDS research milestones: 1981 Identification of the disease in the U.S. , 1983 First isolation of HIV, #hivtalk
• lauriewang: Luc Montagnier lecture at U of Calgary jam packed! It's great to see so many people come out to see a SCIENTIST! #hivtalk
• mikesgene: Diverse crowd here including a woman who travelled from Ontario. Her son contracted HIV through blood transfusion in early 80s. #hivtalk
• mikesgene: In 1983 there were few cases of HIV but Dr. Montagnier was fortunate to be working with the right clinicians at the Pasteur Inst #hivtalk
• mikesgene: We are searching for 'exogenous retroviruses' in cancer leukemia, and AIDS. http://tinyurl.com/awnv9b (expand ) for a definition #hivtalk
• mikesgene: Global warming, poor hygiene in underdeveloped countries, aging pop, all contribute to infectious disease growth. #hivtalk
• mikesgene: TB -1 billion clinical cases & 1 million deaths. Cancer - 16 million deaths. Infectious diseases - 14 to 20 million deaths. #hivtalk
• mikesgene: Public health concerns for the 21st Century are related to new epidemics related to infectious agents and to chronic diseases. #hivtalk
• mikesgene: Scientific knowledge has risen exponentially over the last 3 centuries. #hivtalk
• mikesgene: AS he emphasized this morning Dr. Montagnier is working on prevention as much as cure. #hivtalk
• mikesgene: There are 40 million reported HIV cases in the world with 80% of those in Africa. Over 2 million died from it last year. #hivtalk
• mikesgene: Reminder of tomorrow's all day session on epigentics in Theatre 1 at the U of C. Also part of Dr.Montagnier's work and his visit. #hivtalk
• mikesgene: Dr. Montagnier's dad was an accountant with a lab in his basement. Go figure how the good ones get their start. #hivtalk
• mikesgene: This is part of the Robert Church lecture series. Glad to say Bob's ranch is almost a neighbour in 'country miles'. #hivtalk
• pinkIndigo: Retweet @mikesgene - Ya,ya,. Ten past the hour. They're late starting but Brent Scott is introducing Dr. Montagnier now. #hivtalk
• mikesgene: Ya,ya,. Ten past the hour. They're late starting but Brent Scott is introducing Dr. Montagnier now. #hivtalk
• mikesgene: Remind me never to be a student in over-crowded lecture theatres again ! #hivtalk
• mikesgene: http://tinyurl.com/avpahn (expand ) World Foundation for AIDS Research and Prevention. #hivtalk
• mikesgene: Standing room only may be an understatement. From HIV/Aids to Chronic Diseases: a 25 year survey and prospects is the theme #hivtalk
• mikesgene: Libin Theatre at U of C Med School is hosting 2008 Nobel Laureate Dr.Luc Montagnier for a public lecture. Theatre is SRO #hivtalk
• UofCMedicine: The man who discovered HIV& a co-recipient of the 2008 Nobel Prize is