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Superflu Being Brewed in the Lab

Posted by michael on from the 1-6-million-dead-and-pass-to-your-left dept.

Genial Generalist writes "Superflu is being brewed in the lab, an article by Michael Le Page, describes some of the ongoing efforts to genetically modify the different strains of flu, specifically CDC modification of bird flu for the purpose of developing new vaccines."

8 of 332 comments (clear)

  1. Dangerous research? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Some say that this sort of research is dangerous because of the risk of the virus escaping or being using in bioterrorism, and others that it's good science.

    Refusing to perform research does not preclude others from doing the same for evil purposes.

  2. Is it worth it? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Are the benefits of such a vacine really worth the chance of the virus excaping and causing an epidemic?

    I'm not saying it isn't, just a point to ponder.

    1. Re:Is it worth it? by stevesliva · · Score: 4, Insightful
      It's potentially dangerous! Ban it!

      Forget that it's worthwhile research that may save millions of lives. We've already killed promising stem cell research in this country with Bush's stupid executive order. In the future we may be buying our Parkinson's treatments from South Korea...

      --
      Who do you get to be an expert to tell you something's not obvious? The least insightful person you can find? -J Roberts
  3. How about 100 million? 200 million? by kcurtis · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The 1918 pandemic killed 30-40 million, about half of them otherwise healthy adults (as opposed to most flu's, which affect mostly the young and old).

    Given that the world population has more than tripled since then, and given the increases in world travel, a death toll of over 100 million would not be unlikely for a similar flu. I wouldn't be surprised if it went higher (with a similar strain to the 1918 flu).

    I heard on NPR a week or two ago, from an author who wrote about the 1918 pandemic, that in one instance a man boarded a trolley. Before the trolley got to the end of the line, the conductor and several passengers were dead.

    As far as the benefit outweighing the dangers, I agree. But I don't think the dangers are exaggerated.

    1. Re:How about 100 million? 200 million? by javatips · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I heard on NPR a week or two ago, from an author who wrote about the 1918 pandemic, that in one instance a man boarded a trolley. Before the trolley got to the end of the line, the conductor and several passengers were dead.

      How long was the journey in the trolley? I doubt it was long enought to cover the incubation period. So the people on the trolley were probably already sick and in an advance state of the infection.

      If a virus has a short incubation period and is very virulent (you die quickly) the less likely it will affect a large proportion of people.

      The more successfull virus are the one will long incubation period, take the virus that case AIDS for example.

  4. Nature's better at this than we are by stratjakt · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Movies generate a lot of fear of science, from the nuclear boogeyman who manifested as Attack of the 100 foot [animal] in the 50s and 60s, to the recent batch of nano-germ-megaflu series of movies, like 12 Monkeys, Outbreak, the Andromeda Strain, the Stand, etc..

    Fact is, noone brews up a killer virus like Mother Nature. There are thousands of strains of the flu, many fatal to a percentage of their victims.. HIV, Ebola, Smallpox, Anthrax, etc.. Lots of nasty shit out there. There's fecal coliforms on your toothbrush! Eww, I saw it on Mythbusters.

    Anyways, humanity survives. We survived the plague, we'll survive AIDS, we'll survive whatever Professor Peabody and his mad, mad test tubes come up with.

    After all, we don't know enough to cure the common cold, how could we know enough to create the perfect virus?

    --
    I don't need no instructions to know how to rock!!!!
    1. Re:Nature's better at this than we are by lowe0 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Lemme put it this way: it took centuries for us to develop rockets to go to space, but we had bullets figured out real quick....

      Humanity is very good at coming up with clever methods of killing ourselves and everything around us. Actually doing something to improve the world is a distant second.

  5. Re:Bosh by Nurseman · · Score: 4, Insightful
    Creating "a virus that could kill tens of millions if it got out of the lab" is a catchy line in an article (or a cheesy plot for a movie), but there is absolutely no basis for it. I think any benefit that comes from this sort of research far outweighs the hypothetical dangers.

    If you really want to be scared, read this TRUE account of a near outbreak of The Ebola Virus in Reston Virgina. This book is called The Hot Zone by Richard Preston. When you realize how easily viruses ar spread in hospitals, and labs you should be terrified. Superbugs/Superflus/SARS these are the real dangers to mankinds future.

    --
    Save a Life. Donate Blood. Please.