The third hypothesis Pepin breaks down revolves around the life and actions of a Russian named Serge Voronoff. Vronoff’s eccentric practice of transplanting primate chimpanzee into humans is postulated to have facilitated the transformation of SIV into HIV-1. Voronoff emigrated to France at the age of 18 and attended the Paris School of Medicine. In 1895, he became a French citizen and traveled to Cairo, which was under French rule, to become a surgeon and build a reputation for himself. Voronoff became fascinated by the eunuchs and correlated their short lifespans with being castrated at young ages. This lead him to the conclusion that male hormones were vital in retaining a man’s youth. In 1910, Voronoff returned to France with a sparked
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This experiment became irrelevant with the advent to synthetic thyroid hormone. The testicular xenotransplants began in the 1920’s and were said to improve a man “intellectually, physically, and sexually” (Bajic, Selman, and Rees 339). This was extremely marketable and led to roughly 2,000 transplants being conducted. Voronoff reported his experiments successful, however this is difficult to believe when considering what we know now about immunology. Graft-versus-host disease would have occurred since the patients weren’t given any immunosuppression therapy prior to surgery (Cooper 51). In addressing this hypothesis, Pepin argues that the spillover of SIVcpz occurring from Serge Voronoff’s experiments is unlikely. The chimpanzees used by Voronoff came from Guinea, Senegal, and Mali making them P.t. verus, not P.t. troglodytes. P.t. versus is not a subspecies known to carry SIVcpz. Additionally, the ~2,000 transplants were performed on men living in the Americas, Europe, India, Algeria, and Vietnam; none of which where HIV-1 emerged. Other arguments Pepin makes include that the typical patient for the procedure was elderly men who he assumes didn’t have enough sexual encounters to create the HIV-1 epidemic and that some of the surgeons cut corners by using monkey testicles instead. Monkeys do not carry
This experiment became irrelevant with the advent to synthetic thyroid hormone. The testicular xenotransplants began in the 1920’s and were said to improve a man “intellectually, physically, and sexually” (Bajic, Selman, and Rees 339). This was extremely marketable and led to roughly 2,000 transplants being conducted. Voronoff reported his experiments successful, however this is difficult to believe when considering what we know now about immunology. Graft-versus-host disease would have occurred since the patients weren’t given any immunosuppression therapy prior to surgery (Cooper 51). In addressing this hypothesis, Pepin argues that the spillover of SIVcpz occurring from Serge Voronoff’s experiments is unlikely. The chimpanzees used by Voronoff came from Guinea, Senegal, and Mali making them P.t. verus, not P.t. troglodytes. P.t. versus is not a subspecies known to carry SIVcpz. Additionally, the ~2,000 transplants were performed on men living in the Americas, Europe, India, Algeria, and Vietnam; none of which where HIV-1 emerged. Other arguments Pepin makes include that the typical patient for the procedure was elderly men who he assumes didn’t have enough sexual encounters to create the HIV-1 epidemic and that some of the surgeons cut corners by using monkey testicles instead. Monkeys do not carry