Scary stuff
What is the single most deadly infectious disease in the history of humanity? AIDS? Ebola? Smallpox? Bubonic plague? No. None of these comes close to...
The strain of influenza that devastated the world in 1918.
Over 40 million people died that year in the worst pandemic the world has ever seen. Experts agree that we are overdue for another influenza pandemic, and the changes in global culture that have occurred in the last 85 years could make the next superbug a plague of unimaginable proportions. With our ability to travel and conduct business anywhere in the world on a moment's notice comes the ability to spread a killer virus planetwide with speeds reminiscent of the worst Internet viruses.
Scientists are painfully aware of our vulnerability (remember the great lengths taken to contain "chicken flu"?), and are looking for ways to battle the next big pandemic. One group is looking to the past to protect the future.
A group of researchers is planning to resurrect the 1918 flu within the confines of the laboratory, in an effort to understand what made it so infectious and so lethal. The plan is to infect a particular species of monkey with a similar response to such diseases as humans have, in order to observe the virus at work. Since the influenza virus has only eight genes, the scientists hope to be able to use combinations of the 1918 bug's genes with modern strains to see which parts make it the killer it is.
Needless to say, there is some concern about the level of containment that will be applied to these experiments. If the 1918 bug were to get loose, the results could be devastating. Even worse, a new and more lethal strain might be created and accidentally released into the wild. The Biosafety Level chosen by the team for their laboratory could have worldwide consequences.
Research like this is essential. Let's hope that the scientists take every precaution in handling this killer. Their lives and ours may well depend on their caution. Scary stuff.
The strain of influenza that devastated the world in 1918.
Over 40 million people died that year in the worst pandemic the world has ever seen. Experts agree that we are overdue for another influenza pandemic, and the changes in global culture that have occurred in the last 85 years could make the next superbug a plague of unimaginable proportions. With our ability to travel and conduct business anywhere in the world on a moment's notice comes the ability to spread a killer virus planetwide with speeds reminiscent of the worst Internet viruses.
Scientists are painfully aware of our vulnerability (remember the great lengths taken to contain "chicken flu"?), and are looking for ways to battle the next big pandemic. One group is looking to the past to protect the future.
A group of researchers is planning to resurrect the 1918 flu within the confines of the laboratory, in an effort to understand what made it so infectious and so lethal. The plan is to infect a particular species of monkey with a similar response to such diseases as humans have, in order to observe the virus at work. Since the influenza virus has only eight genes, the scientists hope to be able to use combinations of the 1918 bug's genes with modern strains to see which parts make it the killer it is.
Needless to say, there is some concern about the level of containment that will be applied to these experiments. If the 1918 bug were to get loose, the results could be devastating. Even worse, a new and more lethal strain might be created and accidentally released into the wild. The Biosafety Level chosen by the team for their laboratory could have worldwide consequences.
Research like this is essential. Let's hope that the scientists take every precaution in handling this killer. Their lives and ours may well depend on their caution. Scary stuff.
posted by Bob at
1:50 PM
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