Origin of the AIDS Virus
Gao ID: GAO-02-809R June 17, 2002This report responds to a congressional request that GAO review allegations that the National Cancer Institute's Special Virus Cancer Program (SVCP) created the AIDS virus. GAO found no evidence to support the allegations that SVCP created the AIDS virus.
GAO-02-809R, Origin of the AIDS Virus
This is the accessible text file for GAO report number GAO-02-809R
entitled 'Origin of the AIDS Virus' which was released on June 17,
2002.
This text file was formatted by the U.S. General Accounting Office
(GAO) to be accessible to users with visual impairments, as part of a
longer term project to improve GAO products' accessibility. Every
attempt has been made to maintain the structural and data integrity of
the original printed product. Accessibility features, such as text
descriptions of tables, consecutively numbered footnotes placed at the
end of the file, and the text of agency comment letters, are provided
but may not exactly duplicate the presentation or format of the
printed version. The portable document format (PDF) file is an exact
electronic replica of the printed version. We welcome your feedback.
Please E-mail your comments regarding the contents or accessibility
features of this document to Webmaster@gao.gov.
This is a work of the U.S. government and is not subject to copyright
protection in the United States. It may be reproduced and distributed
in its entirety without further permission from GAO. Because this work
may contain copyrighted images or other material, permission from the
copyright holder may be necessary if you wish to reproduce this
material separately.
GAO-02-809R:
United States General Accounting Office:
Washington, DC 20548:
June 17, 2002:
The Honorable James A. Traficant, Jr.
House of Representatives:
Subject: Origin of the AIDS Virus:
Dear Mr. Traficant:
In response to your request to review an individual's allegations that
the National Cancer Institute's Special Virus Cancer Program (SVCP)
created the AIDS virus, we obtained information on (1) the overall
stated purposes and outcomes of SVCP, (2) scientific assessments of
the origins of the AIDS virus (HIV-1) and any possible evidence
regarding the origins of the AIDS virus at SVCP, and (3) the outcome
of recent litigation regarding the origins of the AIDS virus. On June
13, 2002, we briefed your staff on the results of our analysis. The
enclosed slides formed the basis of the briefing we presented.
To address our objectives, we consulted experts on HIV/AIDS and on
SVCP, reviewed SVCP progress reports and summaries as well as
documents that allege SVCP created the AIDS virus. In addition, we
obtained information on recent litigation involving the individual's
allegations. In summary, we did not find evidence to support the
allegation that SVCP created the AIDS virus. Comments from the
National Cancer Institute on a draft of the briefing slides concluded
that they are historically and scientifically accurate.
We are sending copies of this report to the Secretary of Health and
Human Services and the Acting Director of the National Cancer
Institute. We will also make copies available to others on request. In
addition, the report will be available at no charge on the GAO Web
site at [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov]. Please contact me at (202)
512-7119 if you have any questions. The major contributor to this
report was Lawrence S. Solomon.
Sincerely yours,
Signed by:
Janet Heinrich:
Director, Health Care”Public Health Issues:
Enclosure:
[End of section]
Enclosure:
Origin of the AIDS Virus:
Briefing for the Office of the Honorable James A. Traficant, Jr.,
House of Representatives:
By the U.S. General Accounting Office:
June 13, 2002:
Background:
* An individual has alleged that the visna virus, which caused illness
and death in Icelandic sheep, was used by the National Cancer
Institute's (NCI) Special Virus Cancer Program (SVCP) to develop HIV-
1, the virus that has caused the global AIDS pandemic.
* This individual cited a SVCP research program flowchart as evidence
that HIV-1 was developed intentionally in its laboratories.
Objectives:
* Identify overall stated purposes and outcomes of SVCP.
* Describe scientific assessments of the origins of the AIDS virus and
any possible evidence regarding the origin of the AIDS virus at SVCP.
* Describe outcome of recent litigation involving the individual's
allegations of federal government involvement in the origins of the
AIDS virus.
Methodology:
To address our objectives, we:
* Consulted experts on HIV/AIDS and on SVCP. They have expertise in
genetics, cell biology, viral oncology, biochemistry, internal
medicine, epidemiology, public health, and dentistry. Some of these
experts are cited by the individual as supporters of the allegation
that SVCP created the AIDS virus.
* Reviewed SVCP progress reports and summaries issued between 1967 and
1984.
* Reviewed documents that allege SVCP created the AIDS virus.
* Obtained information on recent litigation addressing the
individual's allegations.
* Performed our work from January through May 2002 in accordance with
generally accepted government auditing standards.
Purpose of SVCP:
* NCI directed SVCP within the intramural laboratories from 1964 to
1980. After 1980, the work of SVCP was incorporated into NCI's broader
National Cancer Plan.
* Purpose was to find viruses in human cancer cells, relate them to
specific cancers (leukemia, etc.), and develop means to block their
effects and reduce cancer growth.
* In 1972, SVCP developed a flowchart depicting research program to
investigate viral oncology (the study of how viruses cause cancer).
* Outcome of SVCP did not lead to discovery of viruses in human cancer
cells, but did result in several advances in molecular biology.
Scientific Assessment on the Origins of the AIDS Virus:
* The first scientific evidence of HIV-1 predates the 1964
commencement of SVCP.
* HIV-1 was found in blood samples of an African man who died in 1959.
(Zhu, Tuofu et al. "An African HIV-1 Sequence from 1959 and
Implications for the Origin of the Epidemic," Nature 391, no. 6667
(1998): 594-97.)
* HIV-1 was likely transferred to humans before 1955 from a subspecies
of chimpanzees infected with simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV).
(Korber, Bette et al. "Timing the Ancestor of the HIV-1 Pandemic
Strains," Science 288, no. 5472 (2000): 1789-96.)
* Historical analyses of virus development have demonstrated that
while the visna virus and HIV-1 shared some common origins thousands
of years ago, mutations of key genes over time have resulted in a wide
divergence of these two viruses.
* These analyses have also demonstrated that the laboratory
combination of the visna virus and HIV-1 was highly improbable.
* Therefore, there is no evidence that SVCP created the AIDS virus.
Recent Litigation Involving Allegations Concerning the Origins of the
AIDS Virus:
* U.S. District Court (Northern District of Ohio) issued order
September 16, 1999, dismissing allegations that the federal government
developed agent that subsequently became known as AIDS.
* U.S. Court of Appeals (Sixth Circuit) affirmed the U.S. District
Court order November 7, 2000. The Court of Appeals referred to the
allegations as having "no basis in law or in fact."
* U.S. Supreme Court denied petition to review the case June 4, 2001.
[Graves v. Cohen, No. 98-02209 (N.D. Ohio Sept. 16, 1999), aff'd 238
F. 3d 421, 2000 U.S. App. LEXIS 29203 (6th Cir. Nov. 7, 2000), cert.
denied sub nom. Graves v. Rumsfeld, 532 U.S. 1072 (2001).]
Comments from NCI:
* We received oral comments from NCI on a draft of this briefing. The
comments stated that the information contained in this briefing is
historically and scientifically accurate.
[End of section]
