Transmission electron micrograph of HIV virionsCDC, MAUREEN METCALFE AND TOM HODGE
A special commission launched by the University of Florence is investigating a faculty member who helped teach a course and supervise student dissertations that deny a causal role for the HIV virus in AIDS. Specifically, the commission will look into whether molecular biologist Marco Ruggiero’s “conduct complies with the institutional guidelines on teaching contents and adherence to the objectives of the official curriculum of biological sciences,” a university spokesman told Nature.
The investigation was announced by the university’s chancellor, Alberto Tesi, on February 29, and comes as a response to a letter sent by an online community dedicated to the discussion of HIV/AIDS known as the HIV forum group. In the letter, the group asks for the “dissociation” of the university from Ruggiero’s “bad science ...
