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New Test Could Reveal Every Virus That's Ever Infected You

Posted by samzenpus on from the just-a-little-prick dept.

sciencehabit writes: A new blood test can find almost every virus you ever caught—in a single drop of blood. Called VirScan, the test surveys the antibodies present in the bloodstream to reveal a history of the viruses you've been infected with throughout your life. Besides diagnosing current illnesses, the new test could be an important tool in developing vaccines and studying links between viruses and chronic disease.

3 of 74 comments (clear)

  1. Tainted mission statements. by geekmux · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The sad part about reading about yet another mission to capture Big Data is not how it can be used for us, but how it can be used against us.

    I hate having to think that way, and yet I'm forced to now. Every time.

    I also struggle who to blame more. A society that demands everything for free, or the corporations that gladly subsidize those demands by selling your online soul in exchange.

    1. Re:Tainted mission statements. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      The sad part about reading about yet another mission to capture Big Data is not how it can be used for us, but how it can be used against us.

      I hate having to think that way, and yet I'm forced to now. Every time.

      You're in good company. Nearly every man who helped frame the US constitution was forced to think that way to prevent future abuses of power.

  2. Please tell me. . . by Idou · · Score: 4, Insightful

    that I can get this test so that next time I get sick they can check the difference and have an explicit idea of what I have. . .

    Now, every time I go to the doctor, they are like "we will put you on these antibiotics and if you don't get better, you have a virus." It feels like the freaking middle ages. . .

    --
    Sdelat' Ameriku velikoy Snova!