End Of All Viral Diseases?

metatron

See:

http://www.torontosun.com/2011/09/29/the-end-of-infection

There are all kinds of developments right on the edge of emerging. This is one.

metatron

Berengaria

I heard about this a couple of weeks ago. Awesome.

This is uber cool but I think there is better stuff than this for the job in the works. This method works through cell biology. However, there is a polymer micelle technology in trials that clears viruses out of the bloodstream without ever having to enter cells. It works on any virus that propagates through the bloodstream. It whacks all influenzas regardless of strain/mutation. Dengue. Ebola. Rabies. You name it. In hours. It doesn't care about host cell biology, only the molecular characteristics of viral capsids. It breaks them open and the contents spill out, never to hijack a cell.

This might be good for hepatitis C however. It propagates cell to cell (not bloodstream), but there are two new protease inhibitors on the market in the last few months that have very high SVRs. Previous standard of care was only 50/50 for 48 weeks of therapy with hellacious side effects. Now we are looking at 80% in 24 weeks.

Viral diseases will be a thing of the past in a few years.

And there is some really cool stuff on the bacterial front as well. Defensin mimicry. Kills MRSA dead. It renders antibiotic resistance moot. The adaption is too radical to counter it. It also works in the bloodstream. It might be the biggest breakthrough since penicillin.

darthfader

As much as I would like to eliminate the "common cold", I think it's probalby only best used on those people who are at greater risk of complications or death.

I think the elimination of HIV or other critical viruses (polio) would be amazing!

EntirelyPossible

I am not so sure this is awesome. Our DNA contains a lot of viral and bacterial DNA. In part it's responsible for helping fuel "rapid" evolution among higher order animals and for making us who we are.

darthfader

"Natural selection" has been altered pretty significantly by the extended human lifespan. Viruses no longer play a major part in effecting humans - they no longer kill us in significant numbers before we are able to reproduce.

EntirelyPossible

We are still evolving and the virii and bacteria DNA in us plays a part in that. They do play a major part in our lives, human lifespan not withstanding.

botchtowersociety

I am not so sure this is awesome. Our DNA contains a lot of viral and bacterial DNA. In part it's responsible for helping fuel "rapid" evolution among higher order animals and for making us who we are.

Unguided biological evolution is obsolete for our kind. We have entered a new level of change.

EntirelyPossible

I think it might be better phrased as "completely unguided evolution/natural selection is long over". Just like any other living organism, we will respond to evnironmental pressures outside of our control, but there a lot of things we respond that that we do control.

Just...the ones under our control, I think we should take a few minutes or decades and think about the downstream effects of making changes we don't fully understand.

I'm cautious like that.

White Dove

Wouldn't elimination of all (honestly, I don't believe in absolutes) viruses render our immune systems vulnerable to them if they come alive, again?

End Of All Viral Diseases?

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