cells, and cord blood lymphocytes, express virus-like particles albeit they are somewhat different from the variety of particles accepted as HIV.(39) The above data raises questions not only in regard to the origin and role of the "non- HIV particles", but also to the "HIV (HTLV-III) particles". Furthermore, neither Gallo's team, nor anybody else before or since has published EM micrographs of the material derived from AIDS cultures/co-cultures which bands at 1.16 gm/ml. Thus it is impossible to know which, if any of the particles, band at that density; 3. Most importantly, it is generally accepted that particles reported in the lymph nodes of AIDS patients are HIV. However, in the only EM study(40), either in vivo or in vitro, in which suitable controls were used and in which extensive blind examination of controls and test material was performed, "HIV particles" were found in 90% (18/20) of patients with persistent generalised lymphadenopathy attributed to HIV, and in 87% (13/15) of patients with "non-HIV lymphadenopathies", leading the authors to conclude: "The presence of such particles do not, by themselves indicate infection with HIV". Antigen-antibody reactions. One can claim that a given protein is an antigen derived from an exogenous retrovirus if first it is shown that: 1. The protein is a structural component of a particle; 2. The particle is a retrovirus; 3. The protein is coded exclusively by a viral and not a cellular gene. Once the above are demonstrated, the only way to prove that the antibodies found in AIDS patient sera are directed against the viral antigen is to use the antigen or the isolated virus as a gold standard. The mere finding that a protein from the AIDS cultures bands at 1.16 gm/ml and reacts with sera from AIDS patients cannot be considered to simultaneously prove that: 1. The protein is a viral antigen; 2. The antibodies in the AIDS patient sera which react with the antigen are specific for that antigen....
