Scientists accidentally create a 'Super-TB' virus by trying to alter its genetic structure..

[Analog]

The mutant form of the bug multiplied more quickly, and was more lethal than its natural counterpart.

Researchers from the University of California at Berkeley, US, had actually been trying to disable genes and make the bacterium less deadly.

"This is one of the very few hyper-virulent organisms ever created," said scientist Dr Lisa Morici.

Tuberculosis is one of the world's biggest killers, and scientists are probing its genetic structure in a bid to find weaknesses that might be exploited by new treatments.

They disabled these genes, and expected to find a weakened form of TB as a result. Instead, the organism grew in virulence.

It killed laboratory mice within seven months of exposure, while those infected with normal TB survived the experiment.

Further investigations suggested that the genetic changes had the unexpected effect of undermining the body's own immune response against TB.

Professor Lee Riley, who led the study, said: "These findings came as a complete surprise to us.

"We thought we had made a mistake, so we repeated the test several times, and we always got the same result."


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[GtPrOjEcTX]

kill it quick!

 

[flxnimprtmscl]

Well that's never a good thing...

 

[ViperMagic]

Oops.

 

[Lifer]

Resident Evil...

 

[JSClark]

Yum, I'll take some!

 

[EngenZerO]

lol...

who plans on taking odds?

 

[Grey]

Isn't it great to know that hundreds of institutes around the world are fvcking with stuff they apparently don't understand. Makes me uneasy they are playing dice with our species like this.

 

[sandmanwake]

It's in playing with things we don't understand that we make new discoveries. What's the point of finding the cure to something we're already immune to?

 

[SilverTorch]

Notch one more for Berkeley

On a side note, 2 other things from Berkeley, LSD and Unix

 

[screw3d]

This sounds like something straight out of a Michael Crichton novel..

 

[PanzerIV]

Originally posted by: Grey
Isn't it great to know that hundreds of institutes around the world are fvcking with stuff they apparently don't understand. Makes me uneasy they are playing dice with our species like this.

I've often thought the same thing. If anything is going to put an end to the human race it's going to be some f^ck up in a lab somewhere that spreads out of control.

 

[DannyBoy]

Perhaps their next mistake will be some strange alien lifeform they find after a nuclear experiment goes horribly wrong

 

[DannyBoy]

Originally posted by: PanzerIV

Originally posted by: Grey
Isn't it great to know that hundreds of institutes around the world are fvcking with stuff they apparently don't understand. Makes me uneasy they are playing dice with our species like this.

I've often thought the same thing. If anything is going to put an end to the human race it's going to be some f^ck up in a lab somewhere that spreads out of control.

Have you seen 28 days later?

 

[Amused]

Scientists accidentally create a 'Super-TB' virus by trying to alter its genetic structure

Learn the difference between bacteria and viruses before posting on the topic, mmmk?

 

[DannyBoy]

These are not going to become 'super-strains'," he said. "They are already going to be out there, and they have not become dominant."

TB is such a "successful" pathogen, he said, for completely the opposite reason.

"It is such a phenomenal pathogen because it does not cause disease in everyone it infects.

"It has this extraordinary ability to transmit itself, and nine out of 10 people who have it will never fall ill."

Wow, i never knew you could be a carrier without getting ill

 

[Amused]

Originally posted by: DannyBoy

These are not going to become 'super-strains'," he said. "They are already going to be out there, and they have not become dominant."

TB is such a "successful" pathogen, he said, for completely the opposite reason.

"It is such a phenomenal pathogen because it does not cause disease in everyone it infects.

"It has this extraordinary ability to transmit itself, and nine out of 10 people who have it will never fall ill."

Wow, i never knew you could be a carrier without getting ill

That comes from thousands of years of having no cure for it. Most of us have somewhat of an immunity to it now.

 

[DannyBoy]

Originally posted by: Amused

Originally posted by: DannyBoy

These are not going to become 'super-strains'," he said. "They are already going to be out there, and they have not become dominant."

TB is such a "successful" pathogen, he said, for completely the opposite reason.

"It is such a phenomenal pathogen because it does not cause disease in everyone it infects.

"It has this extraordinary ability to transmit itself, and nine out of 10 people who have it will never fall ill."

Wow, i never knew you could be a carrier without getting ill

That comes from thousands of years of having no cure for it. Most of us have somewhat of an immunity to it now.

Aye, I never had to have that horribly painful jab

 

[isasir]

Originally posted by: PanzerIV

Originally posted by: Grey
Isn't it great to know that hundreds of institutes around the world are fvcking with stuff they apparently don't understand. Makes me uneasy they are playing dice with our species like this.

I've often thought the same thing. If anything is going to put an end to the human race it's going to be some f^ck up in a lab somewhere that spreads out of control.

The Stand is my favorite mini-series ever. Scary if something like that ever came true tho'.

 

[JACKHAMMER]

Ummm, we aren't immune to TB. Besides, it is research like this that helps us understand the genome to better protect us from it. Stop being so paranoid, it isn't like this research is being done in the backyard. I have worked in lab settings in the past, and there are severral layers of precautions.

 

[SuperCyrix]

28 days later.......

 

[Eli]

As long as they keep it in their labs and not accidently let some out, like the Africanized Honeybee....

 

[The Sauce]

Originally posted by: Grey
Isn't it great to know that hundreds of institutes around the world are fvcking with stuff they apparently don't understand. Makes me uneasy they are playing dice with our species like this.

You are a retard. How do you think we have found cures for so many diseases? Why do you think that the human lifespan has increased by more than 20 years over the past half decade? That's right, dedicated molecular and genetic biologists working on things you can not beging to fathom with a grade-school education. I guess it's human nature to fear anything you don't understand but that's life...get over it.

 

[FelixDeCat]

I hear the government is working a stronger version of AIDS.

 

[PowerMacG5]

Everyone who is mentioning 28 days later, should I go and rent it?