The problem with retroviruses is that while they are capable of inserting genes into DNA, they do so at random. If the insertion occurs in the vicinity of an oncogene, the retroviral treatment can actually result in a malignancy.

Phase III trials in this situation would assess the efficacy of this treatment relative to the current standard of care. The whole point of phase III is to figure out whether the drug is at least as effective as the current standard and, as you correctly state, it would be medically unethical to administer a placebo treatment to a cancer patient.

FWIW, as someone in the middle of a medical education, I can tell you that while the vast majority of the stuff in basic science courses isn't particularly applicable, some of the basics are indeed very important. My chemistry and biology courses (to include biochem) allow me to understand why medications that are quaternary amines such as Pyridostigmine don't usually cross the blood-brain barrier, why certain medications exhibit different efficacy in various parts of the body due to pH differences, and why G protein-coupled receptors are both slower and diverse in their actions than ionotropic receptors. Our curriculum is based on the assumption that we already have a fundamental understanding of physics, biology, and chemistry, and thus can understand the principles underlying physiological and pharmacological actions. To put it another way, undergrad put a lot of stuff in my mental toolbox that I'll likely never need, but thus far I've always had the tool for the job given to me in my training. cheers.

I've been saying for years that if they offered a sort of Science/Technology/Learning bundle (i.e. Discovery channels, Learning channels, History, Military), I'd sign up in a heartbeat. What I don't want to do is pay for MTV, ESPN, and a couple of hundred other channels in which I have no interest. Perhaps the cable industry will have to change a lifelong habit and start giving a damn about what their customers want?

More like med student prank. Holy crap. Wire up a set of bellows to inflate and deflate the lungs, and you've got a guaranteed lifetime of therapy for the victim.

All true. However the antibiotic usage in humans is vastly outweighed by the antibiotic usage in livestock. One of my med-school courses cited an instance in...Denmark, I believe it was. The annual human consumption of an antibiotic came to something like 25kg that year. Consumption of an analogous antibiotic in livestock for that same year was something on the order of 25,000kg. Over-prescription of antibiotics for CYA or, more commonly, to patients who aren't satisfied until they've receive an antibiotic for their viral (sigh) infection is certainly a problem. Before we get too worked up over that, however, let's stop feeding the drugs to the damned cows, pigs, and chickens!