Slashdot Mirror
Gene Found In Black Death Survivors Stops HIV
WindozeSux writes "According to research done by Dr. Stephen O'Brien, a mutated gene known as delta 32 found in Black Death survivor descendants, stops HIV in its tracks. In order to be immune both parents have to have the delta 32 gene. From the Article: 'In 1996, research showed that delta 32 prevents HIV from entering human cells and infecting the body. O'Brien thought this principle could be applied to the plague bacteria, which affects the body in a similar manner. To determine whether the Eyam plague survivors may have carried delta 32, O'Brien tested the DNA of their modern-day descendents...'"
....brainnnzzzz.....
The Black Death.
Oh yeah, we're cookin' now!
KFG
... will it stop zombies?
As you say - certain behaviors minimize the HIV risk and writing Slashdot tripe on Friday night is by far the most secure approach.
I doubt that we will ever figure out - and I suspect that even if we did figure out we couldn't do much about it
Corporations would patent the genes. If you had kids, you or they would be violating the patent. Probably your "enhanced" DNA would also contain a copy protection mechanism that you couldn't bypass without violating the DMCA. For example, you might be born without the necessary organs.
This story is interesting, but as you mention, it isn't new.
This is the Zonk Effect in action. A mutation that Zonk has allows hime to think old news is news. So he forwards this. Another mutation causes Zonk to pass off press releases as news -- see today's "Microsoft as Vigilante" story.
Folks like you happen to have the "Google" mutation, which means that you are immune to mistaking old information for "new". When you see something interesting, you Google it, and immeditately discover that you've been "Zonked".
http://www.thebricktestament.com/the_law/when_to_
everynight i go to sleep worried that al qaeda communist nijas will jump out of home made palnes without even needing parachutes and land on our unsuspecting population with syringes full of HIV, infecting as many of us condom using, non-heroin doing, upright citizens as possible, after i saw a press conference suggesting this was going to happen. with a vaccine or cure, this wouldn't be a fear. we could stand in the streets, facing the al qaeda attackers yelling "give us aids bastards, give us aids!" it would become a popular bumber sitcker I think.
"Religion goes back as far as human history has been documented. Being that the basic tenants of religion build on each other, I often wonder if promiscuity is shunned in almost all of oldest civilizations because it comes from an implicit form of survival. In other words, if you have just one faithfull partner, your chances of survival are much MUCH greater in times of a massive STD pandemic."
There's also the mental benifits that go with having a single partner for life. Just ask all the married guys and gals here.
"3) Encourage long term monogamy"
Why is always the cure worse than the disease?
"It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities." -- Prof. Dumbledore
Best comment ever. Why can't there be like one comment that is allowed to be modded up to +6 every year or so?
Sex is absolutely not just about reproduction. It's perfectly possible to produce offspring without orgasm, and lots of species do. Pleasure in sex appears to function to promote closeness between partners, making that hypothetical long term marriage that much more likely. There's even a hypothesis that female orgasm is a by-product of the fact that men need orgasms to convince them to stick around and look after their mates, but I remain unconvinced. More research is required, and by God, I'm the woman to do it...
of course, biting monkeys is not to everyone's taste - Konrad Lorenz
Then may your nights forever be filled with lonely HIV infected women.
When can I get tested!?
*adds alicenextdoor to Friends list*
You can hold down the "B" button for continuous firing.
Good news, game kid: if you look at her friends, you'll read "alicenextdoor (910558) is all alone in the world."
"It's too bad that stupidity isn't painful." - Anton LaVey
Chef: The Black Death? Are you sure?
Stan: What's the Black Death, Chef?
Chef: LaToya Jackson, children.
The Boys: Oh.
Chef: But I think back in those days it meant something else: the plague!
--South Park Episode 502 - "It Hits The Fan"
"It ain't a war against drugs.it's a war against personal freedom" --Bill Hicks
Virii isn't the plural of virus? Next you'll try to tell me that "boxen" isn't plural of "box".
Let's not forget: