Possible stable vaccine for Ebola developed...

[Mike70]

this vaccine prevented the disease in 80% of the mice it was tried on. next step is to see if it has the same effectiveness on the strain of ebola that most often effects humans. the difference between this version and previous attempts at an ebola vaccine is that this one has shown long term stability, meaning it could be stockpiled.

granted not too many people develop ebola but its potential to be weaponized makes it somewhat of a concern.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-16011748

[Sammich]

It would be better to take your chances at not getting ebola in the first place than put trust into some big pharma corporation putting who knows what into a vaccine.

Remember that H1N1 scare a couple years ago? Baxter International calimed to have developed the first commercial H1N1 vaccine and sent it out to 18 countries. When scientists in the Czech Republic used it on test ferrets, the animals all died. It was discovered that the vaccine contained LIVE avian flu viruses.

[Exatreides]

Links or it didn't happen.

[Sammich]

If this is the first you heard of this, well, that is because if you try to rely upon the corporate media in the U.S. all you will get are "important breaking stories" on Lindsay Lohan, Dancing with the Stars and American Idol.

Officials investigate how bird flu contaminated vaccines in Europe
http://www.thestar.com/article/593439

Bird flu mix-up could have spelled disaster
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20126983.400-bird-flu-mixup-could-have-spelled-disaster.html

Virus mix-up by lab could have resulted in pandemic
http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2009-03-06/science/28031594_1_h5n1-hybrid-virus-bird-flu

[JDFP]

While this is a good thing it absolutely destroys fantasies of a Captain Trips like plague wiping out most of humanity all around us. Then again, these fantasies are only entertaining/interesting until you yourself develop something like Captain Trips. And Ebola is nasty - people cough up their internal organs in advanced stage (blech) and I prefer my organs being internal, thank you kindly.

All the same, we as humanity are long overdue for another Spanish Influenza type epidemic (and an interesting historical fact most don't realize: the Spanish Influenza killed more people when it broke out than all the people who died during WWI).

Baby, can you dig your man? He's a righteous man.

j.p.

[Danny]

While this is a good thing it absolutely destroys fantasies of a Captain Trips like plague wiping out most of humanity all around us. Then again, these fantasies are only entertaining/interesting until you yourself develop something like Captain Trips. And Ebola is nasty - people cough up their internal organs in advanced stage (blech) and I prefer my organs being internal, thank you kindly.


Jokes aside, we all know there is that medically diagnosable level anti social style folks into zombie films who would be downhearted at the news. All that money on a shotgun and a metric ton of pop tarts and a reinforced basement for nothing :lol:

[Eyebiter]

If an Ebola vaccine has been developed, I would argue it also increases the likelihood the disease will eventually be weaponized. When Ebola had no cure it was too dangerous to even consider being developed for germ warfare. However once scientists are able to make a significant amount of the civilian population and military immune to the disease, it becomes an option. It would decimate any adversary without the infrastructure or technical know how to refine a vaccine.

Also there is there is the concern about proliferation. Increasingly chemical and biological weapons are seen by third world countries as the poor mans WMD. Easier to develop and deploy, and doesn't have the international backlash that nuclear research provokes.

[Legion2213]

While this is a good thing it absolutely destroys fantasies of a Captain Trips like plague wiping out most of humanity all around us. Then again, these fantasies are only entertaining/interesting until you yourself develop something like Captain Trips. And Ebola is nasty - people cough up their internal organs in advanced stage (blech) and I prefer my organs being internal, thank you kindly.

All the same, we as humanity are long overdue for another Spanish Influenza type epidemic (and an interesting historical fact most don't realize: the Spanish Influenza killed more people when it broke out than all the people who died during WWI).

Baby, can you dig your man? He's a righteous man.

j.p.

"Come down and eat chicken with me, beautiful. It's soooo dark..."

But JD, the fantasy alway includes natural immunity to the super-flu-plague-death-horror that nails 99% of all those other poor bastards... :thumbsup:

[JDFP]

"Come down and eat chicken with me, beautiful. It's soooo dark..."

But JD, the fantasy alway includes natural immunity to the super-flu-plague-death-horror that nails 99% of all those other poor bastards... :thumbsup:

Oh, you've just perked my interest. I agree the fantasy is better if you survive as opposed to dying ('cause most normal people don't want to have a fantasy about being ravaged by a vicious disease and dying along with just about everyone else).

In fact, it's a great idea for a thread: What you would do if you survived after the rest of humanity dies off.

j.p.

[Mike70]

In fact, it's a great idea for a thread: What you would do if you survived after the rest of humanity dies off.

j.p.

is this what lead to the "you are the last person on earth thread?" i was about to reply that there already is such a thread and YOU started it but then i looked at the dates. i was gonna rib you a bit for that but looks like this thread led to that one. i haven't looked in on this thread in a day or so and had myself a small chuckle when i saw that.

thought you were losing it there for a second and were gonna end up on the happy pills like me. :lol:

[JDFP]

is this what lead to the "you are the last person on earth thread?" i was about to reply that there already is such a thread and YOU started it but then i looked at the dates. i was gonna rib you a bit for that but looks like this thread led to that one. i haven't looked in on this thread in a day or so and had myself a small chuckle when i saw that.

thought you were losing it there for a second and were gonna end up on the happy pills like me. :lol:

Mike: I've probably forgotten more stuff over my life than a great number of people learn over their entire lives - of course, 99% of that is useless liberal arts college stuff though.

j.p.

[Kaos]

Captain Trips is alive and well. It's coming to lungs near you! http://gizmodo.com/5863078/engineered-avian-flu-could-kill-half-the-worlds-humans

[Neil]

Captain Trips is alive and well. It's coming to lungs near you! http://gizmodo.com/5863078/engineered-avian-flu-could-kill-half-the-worlds-humans
Just read that article! EEEEK! :skull:

[AcesandEights]

Just read that article! EEEEK! :skull:

Yeah, I read that article when Kaos posted earlier last month and was very longfaced for the remainder of the day.

[Mike70]

Yeah, I read that article when Kaos posted earlier last month and was very longfaced for the remainder of the day.

actually, that's probably exactly what the world needs. a nice, huge flushing out of everything. 1,000 or 2,000 years later, there would be another civilization that would built itself up on the remains of this one. look how far we've gone past the romans and how long it took just to equal them. maybe the next round we go even farther.

besides, i am very pessimistic about the way the human population is growing. if it continues to grow and reaches the levels it is predicted to in the mid 22nd century/early 23rd, we are fucked anyway. the planet cannot support 11 to 14 billion people and there would be utter and total chaos, war, murder and mass death over resources. better for a virus to eliminate the people - indiscriminately - and leave the infrastructure behind intact.

now that's some walter miller shit for ya there.

[AcesandEights]

Population pressure has been a pet concern of mine for a while, especially due to its interrelatedness to so many other big problems (resources, peak oil<--not well-informed on the data for this 'talking point', famine, disease and of course war). People don't seem to want to have to worry about it, though.


actually, that's probably exactly what the world needs. a nice, huge flushing out of everything.
True, but you'll have to excuse me for not wanting to be flushed :p

[Mike70]

True, but you'll have to excuse me for not wanting to be flushed :p

there is no guarantee you would be flushed. you might have two delta-32 genes since you are a european - esp. if your heritage is from the UK or the northern part of France. the survivors of the black death passed on a wonderful gene to their descendants that makes it very hard for a variety of infectious agents to take hold.

in the next global pandemic, the delta-32 gene probably will mean that european survival rates will be far higher than the rest of the world. i know that i have two of them (thanks great grandparents times 45 or so from the 14th century) because i have a close friend who is a geneticist and i've given him DNA time and again for studies he's done.

[Neil]

true, but you'll have to excuse me for not wanting to be flushed :p

lol :)

[AcesandEights]

there is no guarantee you would be flushed. you might have two delta-32 genes since you are a european - esp. if your heritage is from the UK or the northern part of France. the survivors of the black death passed on a wonderful gene to their descendants that makes it very hard for a variety of infectious agents to take hold.

in the next global pandemic, the delta-32 gene probably will mean that european survival rates will be far higher than the rest of the world. i know that i have two of them (thanks great grandparents times 45 or so from the 14th century) because i have a close friend who is a geneticist and i've given him DNA time and again for studies he's done.

Wow, you've just given me more reading to do. Very interesting, Mike!

[Mike70]

Wow, you've just given me more reading to do. Very interesting, Mike!

the delta-32 gene is also closely linked with european resistance to smallpox.

this is where the whole AIDS "conspiracy" thing came from. there were europeans who were infected by HIV but never developed AIDS. the reason is the delta-32 gene. about 11 to 14% of the northern european population is incredibly resistant and, in many cases, immune from it.