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...'"

Comments

Re:So...

[Artifakt]

There's no possible way to refute the statement in the form you have it in quotes, since it has NULL semantic content. A contention that some group theoretically could do something they are physically, mentally, organizationally or financially capable of is always true, and always totally uninformative. It transmits zero information to the listener unless that listener is ignorant of the organization's capabilities. Switzerland could declare war on the US this afternoon. The US could devote 70% of its GDP to a revitalized space program starting next budget meeting. As analyzed, my best guess would be you have made the statement: "religious fundamentalists can vote", which I suspect the flamebate moderator also already knew. The fact that you chose to offer a statement with no semantic value to most beings over 10 years old is inferred by most readers to mean you saw some other value, i.e. a rhetorical one, but yes, that's their inference, and you may have not meant to imply anything. Only if you had a purpose in including that statement did you make a value judgement.
        Now if you'd said "are likely to", we could further quantify the issue, in which case, I would say that "There are possible conditions for doing the research and development needed to produce a vaccine or other treatment based on this gene that would cause most fundamentalists to either approve or disapprove of the resulting methods, but fundamentalists being roughly (by an order of magnetude at least) as diverse as any other large group, there is unlikely to be 100% support or rejection whatever you propose."