SARS pathogen confirmed

[Sava]

Originally posted by Lancer
Sava's mom is on the case. I feel safer already. Sava, this makes you Apolyton's foremost authority on the subject. Keep us informed!

Sorry that members of my family are directly involved in this story instead of sitting on their ass watching FoxNews.

[MRT144]

ive taken a liking to walking around and coughing then saying "Damn SARS, i wonder if ill get any worse" in public mind you.

[SpencerH]

A collegue of mine (an MD so not too up on actual science) in infectious disease who has the office beside me has also 'wondered whether SARS was a bioterrorist plot'. I managed to refrain from calling him an idiot while pointing out how unlikely it is.

Sava, I have some expertise in this field but I have no idea how you can make that claim. Unless the molecular biologists making the new strain decide to leave markers of their work I cant think of any way to differentiate a natural recombination event (as this probably was) from one done in a lab.

[Sava]

From what I have been told, the pathogen's DNA is too complex for someone to fine tune it. It's possible, but extremely unlikely that the DNA was modified in such a way to make it a weapon. One would have had to map the Genome, then find out which combinations of DNA gave it it's properties. Pathogens like these mutate all the time. Again it's possible, but I've been told I have a better chance of winning the lottery.

[gunkulator]

Wow, only took two posts to turn this into yet another Bash America thread. UR, congrats on your restraint in the first post.

[Sava]

Who's DL are you again?

Not Bash-America... bash American Pharmaceutical companies. These companies don't hold the same values of freedom, democracy, and rule of law. Nice try though.

[SpencerH]

The best reason not to believe its engineered is simply that it's not very effective. 4% lethality is not high enough for a bio-weapon.

[gunkulator]

What's with the DL thing, Sava? That's like three times now. Give it up or at least find a different emoticon to post.

Are there no French, German, British, Canadian or Russia phamaceutical companies? Or are the only evil ones American?

[Sava]

American companies are the worst... although I bashed the German "Bayer" in my Halliburton thread. BTW I jokingly call you a DL because you are a settler with a join date of Feb 2003. OT posters that suddenly appear and don't post in the on-topic forums are always suspect and subject to DL accusations.

[Urban Ranger]

Did somebody snow you?

Originally posted by Sava
From what I have been told, the pathogen's DNA is too complex for someone to fine tune it.

The virus has RNA, not DNA.

[gunkulator]

OK. I actually did spend my first few weeks in the on-topic world but this place sucked me in quickly. I also just recently discovered that most of my 86 posts don't count because they are here! Foul, say I!

Perhaps I kneejerked about the anti-American thing. It's a popular sport around here apparently.

[Sava]

Re: Did somebody snow you?

Originally posted by Urban Ranger


The virus has RNA, not DNA.

wouldn't be the first time...

[Mou]

SARS, Look at me

In respirator I believe.