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Scientists Create Deadlier TB Strain By Accident
Makarand writes "BBC News is reporting that Scientists at the University of California (Berkeley, U.S.) accidentally
created a hyper-virulent
form of the Tuberculosis bacterium while trying to alter its genetic structure to make it less deadly.
The mutant form of the super-bug could multiply more quickly and also had the unexpected effect of
undermining the body's own immune response against Tuberculosis."
Hmmmm. Now why would we need an ultra-virulent Tuberculosis?
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I could just picture the glee with which Dr. Lisa Morici must have said that. It reminds me of the smile on the son's face when his dad came to visit him in his lab.
From
To see a world in a grain of sand, and then to step back and see the beach where the sand lies
This is how we get really bad sci fi movies. Shit like this.
...and that's all there is to it.
I'm reading Stephen King's The Stand at the moment. 'nuff said.
A Minesweeper clone that doesn't suck
Now imagine, for sake of argument, that we create a similar problem with wheat or rice, common non-human subjects of genetic manipulation. Further, assume that we don't catch it in the lab. It might not kill us directly, but by wiping out our "natural"* crops it may well starve us to death... * "natural" since farmers have been selectively breeding grains and livestock for many centuries, it is just that recently we have improved on the technique.
What is the point of trying to make less deadly versions of TB? Are they trying to make a version that will stimulate the production of the same antibodies, but not harm someone, so they can make a live vacine? The article doesn't seem to worry about details like that, i guess the interesting bit is them making a harmless mistake, rather than the useful work they are trying to do...
That is a pretty frightening bit 'o news there, given the government's track record for 'misplacing' things.
Save Sam and Max!
well, maybe some sicko scientist somewhere down in a military basement accedently will create a non-virulent tuberculosis bacterium while trying to alter its genetic structure to make it hypervirulen.
The question is: will they publish it or just pile it up their large collection of other deadly virii?
- Never underestimate the power of human stupidity.
That would be okay though. Industry would step in with a resistant strain of rice which they'd be happy to sell. Unfortunately it's seeds, while tasty, would be sterile, so you'd need to buy from them each time you wanted to plant a crop.
Should instead just try to create a harmless bug, for laboratory purposes. Every time someone tries that, they end up with something which kills every mouse in the area.
Obviously, you keep it in a force field. You can't dissolve energy, right?
Ron Paul 2012
...it must be a government funded project to screw up that badly.
Ron Paul 2012
Sounds like The Stand starting to unfold.
It is by caffeine alone I set my mind in motion, It is by the beans of Java that thoughts acquire speed, The hands acqui
But matter is energy.
"We have got to make Stan understand the importance of voting, because he'll definitely vote for our guy." - South Park
Actually I'm surprised that there was any report in the news at all. Some enterprising reporter must have been keeping a close eye on minor publications or some such.
In the scheme of things and to put it into perspective.
People are going to be doing this sort of work either out in the open or as underground projects. The fact is that we've the best chance to have the skills and technology to deal with the possible accidental and/or bioterror release if we encourage as much work in this area as we can.
If we clamped down on it then only a small elite group will have access to the knowledge and tools and they will be of lower quality than in a more open scenario.
Yes I have considered that the "bad" guys will also have the advantage of better tools. Additionally there will be an increased risk of accidental release due to much more research being done. But I think the advantages of having many more people available and speeding up our advances far outweigh the added risk.
Mmmmm thorazine....
Ward
. Silence! Be thankful thy species is unpalatable! .
They will pile it up with their other virii. They now have enough virii to wipe out at least the following creatureii:
. humanii
. sheepii
. cowii
. catii
. pigii
. giraffii
. dogii
.
.
.
5) NASA telemetry station, tracking YetAnotherMarsProbe.
4) Your barber, giving you a hair cut.
3) Your daughter, checking a pregnancy test.
2) A munitions expert, loading nuclear weapons for transport.
1) A genetic engineer, experimenting on human pathogens.
Top 10 people you don't want to hear say "Oops".
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- - You can't take something off the Internet! That's like trying to take pee out of a swimming pool.
They had that gene sequencer in reverse. How silly.
If Mr. Edison had thought smarter he wouldn't sweat as much. --Nikola Tesla
Acctually, i don't think this ultra-virulent form was created that 'accidentally'. It's a common practice in dna-modification research to simple fuck up a part of the dna of the bacterium and then look which one has the most peculiar change in its behaviour. Maybe the chance of creating a less virulent bacterium is even smaller than an ultra-virulent one. Nevertheless, in my opinion scientist will stumble on a lot more (and worse) of those freaking creatures of mankind.
- Never underestimate the power of human stupidity.
The entire world's population will be reduced to deranged psychos looking for fresh blood.
The Truth About Slashdot
Does this mean all our potatos are going to get culosis?
Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
hey, thanks a lot guys.
would be to put a warning out on gene modification recipe and make this new variation extinct . The lab would have the only culture in existance , right . u.n.l.e.s.s.o.f.a.m.i.s.s.i.n.g.m.e.d.i.a.g.r.o.w. t.h.p.l.a.t.e
Someone call Rumsfeld, I know his friend Saddam is in jail but he might know another murderous dictator we can sell the stuff to.
GCHQ Quantum Insert installed. If only our tongues were made of glass, how much more careful we would be when we speak
Now that's what I call Opening the Door to New Possibilities.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
Thank God scientists have moved us one step closer to Captain Trips. Oh wait - that marks the END OF THE WORLD.
Why the hell don't scientists who do something like this write a report for the National Security Council, and then destroy their research and all documentation about how they did it?
You can yell about "security through obscurity" applying to germ warfare, but until we get better at actually preventing supergerms from killing us all, I'd just as soon not make any new ones. Let's figure out how to patch exploits in the human genome and in basic human biology, before we go discovering (and publishing) new exploits.
Education is the silver bullet.