The deadly 1918 virus behind the Spanish flu has been reconstructed in an effort to predict future pandemics and develop new vaccines and treatments.
The virus, created by Adolfo Garcia-Sastre of Mount Sinai School of Medicine and colleagues, is contained at the Centers for Disease Control following strict safety conditions.
I wonder if these are the same strict safety conditions that allowed those bubonic plague-infested rats to escape a while ago.
More from Unknown Country:
Deadly Flu Virus Formula on Internet
After nine years of effort, in a top secret program, scientists have recreated the deadly 1918 Spanish flu virus, which caused one of the biggest pandemics in human history. The virus is stockpiled in a government laboratory in Atlanta, Georgia. Despite the danger, the DNA sequence of this flu is now available to scientists over the internet.
4 comments:
Well, isn't that cute? Of course, since the info is for scientists only, we can expect that only scientists will, or can, access it .... *sigh* What does it take for "intelligent" people to learn? And, in other news, we have the following.
http://www.breitbart.com/news/2005/10/06/D8D2QNPG2.html
Plane Carrying Viruses Crashes in Canada
Oct 06 6:57 PM US/Eastern
WINNIPEG, Manitoba
A cargo plane carrying small amounts of flu virus crashed on railway tracks near Winnipeg's city center Thursday, killing the pilot but missing buildings and vehicles, authorities said.
The research samples of frozen influenza and herpes viruses were destroyed in the crash and ensuing fire along with other freight, Federal Express spokeswoman Karen Cooper said.
Article continues. This sort of stuff, and far worse, is being moved all around us, all the time. Well, you folks Outside, not us, up here. Up here, biologists are testing birds for H5N1 on the Alaska Peninsula, about 14 miles or so from my house. We don't use planes to move viruses, but rather birds, being as we are "all natcheral". :-)
Some might find that naturalness comforting. Being right at the "front line" of possible/probable H5N1 invasion of North America, I don't!
So ... that's what my fellow spaniards Ph.D.'s have been up to ...
What a bunch of morons.
Jon
Nothing better to do with their time. You can tell me that some Bush administration-inspired bioweapons program isn't behind this kind of research, if even at one or two removes.
I meant, of course, that you CAN'T tell me.... (I guess you COULD tell me, though!)