Live Chat: XMRV & CFS—Science and Controversy

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Live Chat: Chronic Fatigue Syndrome—Science and Controversy

by Enserink on 21 September 2011, 3:36 PM

Today's Topic

Two years ago, Science published a paper suggesting that a mouse

retrovirus called XMRV might be involved in chronic fatigue syndrome

(CFS), a debilitating disease with no known cause. The study raised

worries that XMRV might be spreading via blood donations. Since then,

many other studies have failed to find XMRV in CFS patients, and some

have suggested that the 2009 paper was the result of lab

contamination.

Where does the science stand today? And how has the long and sometimes

bitter debate affected the scientific field and CFS patients? Join us

for a live chat on this page at 3 p.m. EDT on Thursday, 22 September,

to discuss these and other questions with Busch, a transfusion

medicine scientist involved in XMRV research, and retrovirologist Jay

Levy. You can leave your questions in the comment box below before the

chat starts.