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Build Your Own Virus

Wire Tap writes "Scientists have assembled the first synthetic virus. The US researchers built the infectious agent from scratch using the genome sequence for polio. The most amusing part is this snippit: 'To construct the virus, the researchers say they followed a recipe they downloaded from the internet and used gene sequences from a mail-order supplier.' Heck, don't we all have our own mail-order suppliers for gene sequences?"

13 of 324 comments (clear)

  1. Finally! by Joe+Tie. · · Score: 5, Funny

    From the article: injected it into mice to demonstrate that it was active. The animals were paralysed and then died.

    After decades of research, advances in biotechnology finally creates the long fabled "better mousetrap".

    --
    Everything will be taken away from you.
    1. Re:Finally! by Kredal · · Score: 3, Funny

      Polio didn't kill the mice... the scientists were just careless and injected the saline solution into the mice's spinal cords, causing paralysation, and then death.

      False alarm, nothing to see here...

      --
      Whoever stated that signature sizes should be limited to one hundred and twenty characters can just go ahead and kiss my
    2. Re:Finally! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      Oh. Well, what a relief.

  2. A new virus?! by Schmelter · · Score: 5, Funny

    Great, another computer-engineered virus.

    No wonder my roomate has been screaming "I send you this file in order to have your advice. See you later. Thanks. " while throwing porn at me and defacing my website. Fortunately, I was able to powercycle him with a car-battery.

  3. Oh great... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny
    Damn script kiddies designing their own viruses, how long until they get their own downloadable virus construction toolkit?

    What's it called?

    9o7i0

    kewl! I just made 5m4L7p0x

    Release it dude!

  4. Re:No more DeCSS for me by Mode0x13 · · Score: 0, Funny

    TrollTech version 2.0.14 (Crapola) running on i286-dosbox

    Entering postlevel: -1
    probing goatse.cx... OK
    BSD is dying... OK
    Mounting Natalie Portman... OK
    nportman: Covered in hot grits
    nportman: naked and petrified

    Slashdot losers: found
    slashdot: 10 stories on front page
    slashdot: 5 linux FUD articles
    slashdot: 2 feebleminded rants
    slashdot: 2 recycled articles
    slashdot: 1 junk science story
    slashdot: this is not news for nerds, stuff that matters.

    Registering troll personalitires...
    Wintroll 3.0 (c) 1998 Redmond
    Right Wing Troll: found. Loaded at 0x1950
    Jon Katz (c) VA Linux

    Welcome to TrollTech. HTH. HAND.

    C:>TROLLTEK> CD SLASHDOT

    C:>TROLLTEK\SLASHDOT> DEL *.*

  5. Spit Kiddies! by tchdab1 · · Score: 2, Funny

    Now we'll get hassled by spit kiddies - anyone that can follow a sequencing recepie will be generating these things.

  6. Re:Huge medicine possibility by Subcarrier · · Score: 3, Funny

    *THUDDUD*

    Oooh, verdamnt, not once more! Back to ze dravink board es ist. Igor, clear out ze body and vasche ze beakerz! Schnell! Ich must vork on the formula some more! Hunh...

    --
    "I have opinions of my own, strong opinions, but I don't always agree with them." -- George H. W. Bush
  7. Re:Huge medicine possibility by nick357 · · Score: 5, Funny

    "I may not have morals, but I have standards."

    When someone who is in the business of "using a modified adenovirus to deliver a suicide gene", is using a sig like this, it scares the bejeebers out of me...

  8. Re:Huge medicine possibility by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    At least he's not plugging his new book: "Apoptosis for Dummies"

  9. Shades of Jake Brundlefly by gelfling · · Score: 3, Funny

    Do it yerself gene sequencing...ooops

  10. Genetic Recombination Lab in highschool by bsDaemon · · Score: 2, Funny

    in my AP Biology class we made a strain of e.coli that was resistant to the antibiotic ampicilin. That was pretty fun. We also got them to turn green when they broke down lactose (or glactose...which ever is bigger...i forget).
    I guess this is more impressive though. I want to be a bio major in college, so i hopefully will get to do some neat stuff like this.

  11. Mail Order Gene Sequences by CaptainCarrot · · Score: 4, Funny

    They should be very, very careful. You never know what might happen with mail-order gene sequences, or genetic material from eBay or such places.

    --
    And the brethren went away edified.