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Viruses Enlisted as Nano-builders

Posted by michael on from the so-that's-how-the-ship-gets-into-the-bottle dept.

Parsa writes "Nanotechnology is getting closer with genetically engineered viruses grabbing zinc sulfide and arranging themselves into highly organized structures. The story is here at MSNBC.com."

2 of 105 comments (clear)

  1. Please come up with a snappy name by FunkSoulBrother · · Score: 4, Insightful

    If you continue to refer to them as "viruses", people will never support this sort of thing.

    Its like the people who follow Bush on "cloning". Oh sure, some of them have legit religious opposition, but most blindly think that a "clone" is some sort of sci-fi copy of yourself, when in reality, a full grown human clone would be an identical twin, and a totally different person, except for genetic traits.

    People are going to see virus and thing "little organism that kills" and we will never even get started.

    I hate stupid people.

  2. Re:Frightening...Yes, but if they attack bacteria? by texchanchan · · Score: 3, Insightful

    If they limited their attacks to bacteria, we could still be in serious trouble. The entire ecosystem depends on bacteria. Without bacteria there is no "dust to dust." On a more personal level, the "good" bacteria in your innards don't provide nutrients (that I know of, being an ignorant techie, not a scientist), but they do other things for you like keep their nasty cousins from eating you alive. We'd also be in trouble without the cyanobacteria ("blue-green algae").