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To: Kozman
I certainly hope your suspicions are not true. I'm sure Obama will be monitored very closely, but if the situation is true, it raises a lot of questions.

Not so much here, but I've read more than one comment that some seem happy as it could mean a reduction in world population which I find distasteful and alarming.

I'm concerned about some of what I'm looking up now. In I believe it was about 1999, a scientist named Taubenberger got samples of the 1918 flu virus and partial genetic sequencing, but the RNA was damaged. So the first attempt failed, but another tissue sample was obtained from a victim buried in the Alaskan permafrost and led to the full discovery. The genome sequencing and method was posted on the internet!

The world took little notice at the time, but there were safety issues raised in the Guardian. I don't know if the current strain is exactly the duplicate or not, but it is not too far fetched to think that a variant could be bioengineered, not saying it was.

So while not wanting to feed into a conspiracy, I don't necesarily believe everything can be explained by coincidence. Regardless, I doubt we will ever know the full truth about it.

Ethics of reconstructing Spanish Flu: Is it wise to resurrect a deadly virus? (nature.com)

There are multiple other references out there, but it sounded like a bad idea at the time as I did hear something about it in the news.

26 posted on 04/25/2009 6:58:38 PM PDT by Aliska
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To: Aliska; TigerLikesRooster; SunkenCiv
There is a big risk with companies selling synthetic sequences such as http://mrgene.com/desktopdefault.aspx/tabid-77/166_read-160/ You can get 3000 base pairs for $ 0.49/bp, i.e. $ 1 470 for a 3000 bp sequence in 20 days. There are viruses that have economic impact that are shorter than that.

I hope that they are very strict with biosafety:
Mr. Gene's routinely screens every order for its origin, biosafety level classification or its potential for a dual-use application. During the ordering process, the customer may provide any insights on the biosafety of their constructs. Regardless of this classification Mr. Gene assesses biosafety and biosecurity issues individually for each ordered sequence. Mr. Gene therefore reserves the right to refuse orders, if necessary.

https://mrgene.com/desktopdefault.aspx/tabid-42/

However, North Korea would easily be able to manufacture a nasty sequence.

Note: Influenza is a RNA virus that is much more difficult to handle and much longer.

47 posted on 04/26/2009 12:45:26 AM PDT by AdmSmith
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