jj@alice.UUCP (08/14/85)
While the idea of CBW is so transparently ghastly that I can readily imagine a fanatic somewhere crossing E-Coli with AIDS, and doing in warmblooded creatures of all types, I am a bit annoyed with the two examples given in the original article on CBW, specifically Tay-Sachs and sickle-cell anemia. The implication was that there was research into tailored viruses that would cause sickle-cell in all blacks, or Tay-Sachs in all people of eastern European ancestry. Without knowing any about what is being researched, that statement is a bit off the mark. It is a bit off the mark since both diseases involve genetic changes of a type that would no longer BE SPECIFIC TO THE RACE that now suffers from the disease, should the disease be caused by some sort of supression/enhancement virus. Both diseases are transmitted via genetic processes, and are racially specific today only because of the origin of the mutations that brought about the disease in the first place. (Furthermore, it's clear that sickle-cell is partially an adaptation, albiet one with a penalty, to increase resistance to malaria parasites.) Tay-Sachs is (the last I heard) a disease in which certain nerve cells (or it might be gray cells) cannot properly metabolize fat because of a missing enzyme. Any virus that can change the metabolism of the cells to prevent the manufacture of that enzyme will work on (unless some careful and unlikely finagling is done that is unrelated in all respects to the disease) ANYTHING that has the particular enzyme. There are obvious restrictions here that relate to cell-wall penetration, etc, of course, but in general, one could come up <hypothetically> with a bug that caused Tay-Sachs. It would cause it in all infected humans, though, not just the race that happens to now suffer from the problem. Sickle-cell is (again, the last I heard) a disease that results from a different form of hemoglobin. Again, causing the marrow/etc to generate that form of hemoglobin in any individual who does not already have that problem is not racially specific without further tailoring that is unrelated to the disease. Needless to say, I find the deliberate incitement used by the mention of those two diseases to be utterly insulting. The desired effect of the article seemed to be a shortsighted attempt to cause fighting and racial tension, rather than a sincere effort to prevent the creation of viral weapons, racially specific or NOT. It IS true, undoubtedly, that some twit could concoct racially selective diseases. Diseases currently known do not, in general, qualify for such use. (i.e. a healthy black or eastern European is no more succeptable than any other human. A half-carrier (one is non-dominant, one recessive) is no more succeptable either.) CAVEAT: I am NOT an expert in the above fields. I comment strictly on what I have read in such publications as Scientific American and the like. Expert opinion is welcomed. If there is someone QUALIFIED to talk about such doomsday research on the net, please speak up. -- SUPPORT SECULAR TEDDY-BEAR-ISM. "I see a dark cloud, On the horizon,..." (ihnp4/allegra)!alice!jj
kay@warwick.UUCP (Kay Dekker) (08/22/85)
In article <4144@alice.UUCP> jj@alice.UUCP writes: >While the idea of CBW is so transparently ghastly that I >can readily imagine a fanatic somewhere crossing E-Coli >with AIDS, and doing in warmblooded creatures of all types, Difficult. Our good friend E. coli is a bacterium, whereas HTLV III (the thing currently suspected of bringing about AIDS) is a virus. These are very different sorts of creatures; 'crossing' (in the genetic sense) isn't possible. However, it might well be possible (and, heaven help us, feasible) to discover *why* HTLV III infection can lead to AIDS, and, with that knowledge, modify a common gut or skin bacterium to have a similar effect. Anyone out there who is involved in this sort of thing? If so, you should damn well be ashamed of yourselves. Kay. -- "A boy does not put his hand into his pocket until every other means of gaining his end has failed." _Tommy_, by J. M. Barrie. ... mcvax!ukc!warwick!flame!kay
jeg@ptsfa.UUCP (John Girard) (08/30/85)
In article <2307@flame.warwick.UUCP>, kay@warwick.UUCP (Kay Dekker) writes: > In article <4144@alice.UUCP> jj@alice.UUCP writes: > >While the idea of CBW is so transparently ghastly that I > >can readily imagine a fanatic somewhere crossing E-Coli > >with AIDS, and doing in warmblooded creatures of all types, > > Difficult. Our good friend E. coli is a bacterium, whereas HTLV III > (the thing currently suspected of bringing about AIDS) is a virus. > These are very different sorts of creatures; 'crossing' (in the genetic > sense) isn't possible. > Anyone out there who is involved in this sort of thing? If so, you > should damn well be ashamed of yourselves. > ... mcvax!ukc!warwick!flame!kay