ebola, anyone else mildly terrified?
Discussion
According to Ken Alibek, the soviets were successful in genetically modifying smallpox to express parts of the Ebola genome. I wonder if it is actually possible to insert the entire genome of a small and nasty virus into that of a large and highly contagious one, and have it express the virions of the smaller virus as well as those of the chimera? I don't think that's what the Soviets did, I think they just created a nastier smallpox.
[quote=otolith]It didn't kill us all, though, and nor would the strain those researchers have created. Massively dangerous, but not civilisation ending.
[quote]
How do you work that out? You work for the CDC?
If someone takes H1N1 (it killed 500,000 people in 2009) and better known as influenza.
The guy the refined it until he found strains that were resistant to antibodies, then refined it a few more times and now has a strain that is not effected by any vaccine, as in it can not be wiped out by a vaccine.
How is that not civilisation ending?
You cant stop it, you might be able to hide from it, but can you hide forever?
[quote]
How do you work that out? You work for the CDC?
If someone takes H1N1 (it killed 500,000 people in 2009) and better known as influenza.
The guy the refined it until he found strains that were resistant to antibodies, then refined it a few more times and now has a strain that is not effected by any vaccine, as in it can not be wiped out by a vaccine.
How is that not civilisation ending?
You cant stop it, you might be able to hide from it, but can you hide forever?
They have artificially produced a virus which is similar in nature to the 1918 strain - they have searched a database of avian influenza viruses to find candidates with similar sequences to the 1918 virus and then modified it to make it easily transmissible. If it got out, it would no doubt kill a huge number of people, just like the 1918 pandemic did. But that didn't kill everyone, and nor, I think, would this.
otolith said:
They have artificially produced a virus which is similar in nature to the 1918 strain - they have searched a database of avian influenza viruses to find candidates with similar sequences to the 1918 virus and then modified it to make it easily transmissible. If it got out, it would no doubt kill a huge number of people, just like the 1918 pandemic did. But that didn't kill everyone, and nor, I think, would this.
Mobility of the population is the most worrying aspect of a modern pandemic.smegmore said:
zygalski said:
Mobility of the population is the most worrying aspect of a modern pandemic.
Definitely, the availability of world wide air travel would mean the virus spreading at an exponential rate, a far cry from the Spanish flu of 1918.P-Jay said:
It's a terrifying thing to have or course - but like most things of this type, no one will do much about it until it reaches a country where lots of white people live.
Why don't the "black" people sort it out then ? why does it always have to wait until it becomes a "white problem" before it gets dealt with ?7mike said:
P-Jay said:
It's a terrifying thing to have or course - but like most things of this type, no one will do much about it until it reaches a country where lots of white people live.
Does writing bks like this make one feel in some way, superior? Foppo said:
7mike said:
P-Jay said:
It's a terrifying thing to have or course - but like most things of this type, no one will do much about it until it reaches a country where lots of white people live.
Does writing bks like this make one feel in some way, superior? [for all the mongs out there that was a satirical comment]
Edited by Mojocvh on Wednesday 2nd July 20:52
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