The Deadliest Virus Becomes CF Cure

[Admiral Valdemar]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/2986437.stm

Looks like they have found the best vector for gene therapy against Cystic Fibrosis, not Influenza or even HIV, but Ebola.

[EmperorMing]

This is interesting...

Now if we can just keep the patients form getting sick. Possibly using a neutered varient of Ebola?

[Einhander Sn0m4n]

Ebola to cure CF? Sounds at first blush to be like using a full-power Death Star Superlaser to fix a Chronic Highway Traffic-jam Problem.

Very interesting idea tho. I rather like how they put two and two together

[Admiral Valdemar]

"Oops, aw nuts."

"What is it? Oh, you didn't..."

"Yeah, second time this week."

*Watches patient begin to bleed and spasm uncontrollably*

"Next time, make sure you use the engineered Ebola and not the natural killer Zaire strain. Geez, you're killing off half our business!"

[Darth Yoshi]

I just hope they can keep the new virus away from the general public.

[Admiral Valdemar]

I just hope they can keep the new virus away from the general public.

It should be harmless, I doubt anyone will be stupid enough to use the most potent of the four major haemorrhagic fevers in the general public.

Or are they...

[Darth Yoshi]

Considering how sporadic virii can get, I wouldn't want to take chances taht the virus leaks out and then mutates.

[Alyrium Denryle]

Now, this is cool information.

[Admiral Valdemar]

Considering how sporadic virii can get, I wouldn't want to take chances taht the virus leaks out and then mutates.

True, they were hoping the way Influenza mutated they could get the genes injected into target cells with stealth ability from the immune response. But what happens if that virus become virulent in a bad way? Big trouble.

[Companion Cube]

Your sig pic seems so much more applicable now....

[Admiral Valdemar]

Your sig pic seems so much more applicable now....

It's my luvvable ickle pet.

[NecronLord]

Your sig pic seems so much more applicable now....

It's my luvvable ickle pet.

Okkk... If I wasn't an energy being in a living metal shell. I'd be running away now.

[Enforcer Talen]

hm. I just failed my panic test.

aieeeeeeee!

[Shinova]

Is the USA tightly packed enough for Ebola to spread well, if it became harmful again?


And there's also the remote possibility some terrorist might try to do something with the Ebola.

[Admiral Valdemar]

This virus has no real problem, it is just the protein coat, not the actual haemorrhagic fever itself.

Think of it as having a rescue plane with the outside looking like a stealth bomber. It's a sheep in wolf's clothing.

Of course, if a terror network tried to get Ebola, and some are, and released it in the US in say a large city like NYC, then you'd have many deaths if it wasn't caught quickly.

If it was genetically engineered to be airborne, then you have MAJOR problems.

[Illuminatus Primus]

This virus has no real problem, it is just the protein coat, not the actual haemorrhagic fever itself.

Think of it as having a rescue plane with the outside looking like a stealth bomber. It's a sheep in wolf's clothing.

Of course, if a terror network tried to get Ebola, and some are, and released it in the US in say a large city like NYC, then you'd have many deaths if it wasn't caught quickly.

If it was genetically engineered to be airborne, then you have MAJOR problems.

I don't think many terrorist groups have the ability to reverse-engineer the vector protein coat back into a viral weapon. Seems almost harder than breaking into the labs to get the original virus itself.

[Admiral Valdemar]

This virus has no real problem, it is just the protein coat, not the actual haemorrhagic fever itself.

Think of it as having a rescue plane with the outside looking like a stealth bomber. It's a sheep in wolf's clothing.

Of course, if a terror network tried to get Ebola, and some are, and released it in the US in say a large city like NYC, then you'd have many deaths if it wasn't caught quickly.

If it was genetically engineered to be airborne, then you have MAJOR problems.

I don't think many terrorist groups have the ability to reverse-engineer the vector protein coat back into a viral weapon. Seems almost harder than breaking into the labs to get the original virus itself.

The Japanese cult that was responsible for the Sarin gas attacks in the mid-nineties is reported to have tried to smuggle infected monkeys into Asia for testing as a suitable host to get the virus from.

So far it seems they are unsuccessful, the virus has probably killed more of them than anything else.

[JodoForce]

Vector obviously != the virus.

Now IIRC a vector is just some kind of delivery vehicle for whatever bio-engineered wonder you want to use to attack the disease you're working against. You can compare it to a troop transport.

[flame]
bio-ignoramuses
[/flame]

[Admiral Valdemar]

Vector obviously != the virus.

Now IIRC a vector is just some kind of delivery vehicle for whatever bio-engineered wonder you want to use to attack the disease you're working against. You can compare it to a troop transport.

[flame]
bio-ignoramuses
[/flame]

Yes, because you go into the Zaire region to get monkeys as pets like normal people.

http://www.csis-scrs.gc.ca/eng/miscdocs/postscr_e.html

It was reported in mid-May that the sect's "Health and Welfare Minister," genetic engineer Seiichi Endo, had "visited a major research institute in Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture, around May 1993, purchasing materials necessary for gene recombination and cells for promoting the multiplication of viruses." He had also predicted in a book published by Aum that "new microbes and biological weapons produced through gene technology will be used in the next world war" (JTW 1995d). Finally—and perhaps most chilling of all—there were reports in late May of Aum's interest in the Ebola virus. In this regard, Aum was reported to have sent a "medical" mission to Zaire in 1992. And during a radio broadcast from Moscow in December 1994 (a transcript of which had been printed in a cult publication in March 1995), Endo was said to have listed Ebola, together with smallpox and yellow fever (as well as botulism and aflatoxin bacteria) as potential biological warfare agents (Toronto Globe and Mail 1995b).

-Postscript: Chemical Terrorism in Japan Article

Emphasis mine.

No doubt they have given up due to the highly virulent nature of the disease, may as well stick with gas, the worst they can do is VX if they could get it.

[JodoForce]

Yes, because you go into the Zaire region to get monkeys as pets like normal people.

Is that meant to say there's something wrong with what I said? I'll admit my understanding of this topic is not all that clear anymore, although I'd once read all there was to know about vectors for this neuroscience essay

[Admiral Valdemar]

Yes, because you go into the Zaire region to get monkeys as pets like normal people.

Is that meant to say there's something wrong with what I said? I'll admit my understanding of this topic is not all that clear anymore, although I'd once read all there was to know about vectors for this neuroscience essay

Perhaps I responded in error, I thought you were countering the claim I made about the terrorists using Ebola as a weapon, not the vector thing (though the animal vector for Ebola is monkeys).

A vector in the biological term is an animal that harbours the pathogen without inflicting any real harm on it so it can propagate throughout a populace.

In this case, there is no vector, merely the protein coat of an otherwise lethal disease. The protein coat is what you could call camouflage for the virus as it enters host cells to take over the cellular machinery, so in short, this news means they are using the stealth abilities of Ebola to penetrate cells easier which is what makes Ebola so lethal. Not the actual virus itself.