XMRV has taken some hits lately but there have been some hopeful hints as well and Riley on the PR Forums put a list of them together. He said “they say that the darkest hour is before the dawn, and I believe we are in that darkest hour” and here is why he believes XMRV will work out.
1. Dr Mikovits’ comments at Santa Rosa that she believes “the politics will go away shortly.”
2. Another person on the forum reported a few weeks ago that Dr. Demerleir told him that there is something coming out in a couple of months that will end the contamination debate, but that he could not provide details because of a non disclosure agreement.
3. The report from XMRVGA on Dr. Mikovits’ recent talk in Canada. They said that some new “jaw dropping” directions were announced and that the research is progressing nicely. They too said they could not release details at this time.
4. Some comments that Dr. Lo and Dr. Alter made during the NIH videocast abou their research, which make it seem that contamination is highly unlikely. Also , the general confidence that they display in their results.
5. The recent letter from Dr. Lapp which states that Chronix found XMRV, possibly integrated into human DNA with new technology.
6. The escalating coverage in the Wall Street Journal. I cannot help but think that ADM has gotten wind of whatever big announcement is coming, and that she and the Journal are now laying the groundwork for what is sure to be a massive story. Think about it why all of the full page articles about CFS now? Why run that article about Mangan and NIH campaign now? That stuff happened six months ago, and the article read like it was written six months ago.
7. The press release being discussed in this thread. I take this not as a demotion of Dr. Mikovits or some sort of capitulation by the WPI, but as a sign that they have a trump card on the way and are therefore ready to move in a new direction (treatment) with Dr. Mikovits at the helm. I think that this announcement will come in May and coincide with the opening of the WPI clinic.