Thanks a fool in paradise.
Posted on 10/29/2014 8:25:56 AM PDT by BenLurkin
Viruses preserved in ancient samples provide valuable information about viral diversity from long ago; they help us trace how today's species evolved and study their biology.
However, it is not easy to recreate ancient viruses. Even when they are preserved in ancient specimens, they are somewhat degraded and their concentrations are low.
Now, a new study led by the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), shows how it is possible, using modern techniques in the field of molecular genetics, to recreate ancient viruses from cryogenically preserved materials
(Excerpt) Read more at medicalnewstoday.com ...
How many courics did they need?
My sister got bit by a reindeer.
I seem to recall horror movies starting that way...
Now that is hilarious! He’s a steaming pile.
postgrad research or PhD thesis.
"50 times older than humans."
Thanks a fool in paradise.
“– smallpox has no animal reservoir. Without human incubators, the virus cannot naturally exist.
It also doesn’t stay alive on its own for long. In the past, some researchers and news outlets speculated that smallpox in the frozen graves of former victims might remain in suspended animation, ready to begin a new cycle of infection should those bodies ever be dug up and thawed. Scientists have attempted to excavate corpses in frozen graves in Alaska and Siberia that contain the remains of smallpox victims, however none of the bodies contained viable viruses. “No one feels there’s a serious chance that global warming will melt the permafrost and unleash an epidemic,” says Michael Lane, who served as director of the Centers for Disease Control’s (CDC) smallpox eradication programme from 1970 until 1981, when it was declared a success and shut down.....”
http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20140130-last-refuge-of-an-ultimate-killer
How exciting. We don’t have enough diseases in the world, so scientists are thawing out all the old ones. Yipee.
Hey, it’s only of concern to reindeer. Of course, Christmas is coming...
” “– smallpox has no animal reservoir. Without human incubators, the virus cannot naturally exist.”
How do the Russians and the US maintain their smallpox stocks?
Viral tomb
Currently, smallpox is known to be kept only at those two locations. (While previously unknown vials were discovered in a Washington lab in July 2014, they were soon transported to Atlanta.) Both house the virus in biosafety level four (BSL-4) facilities. This level of safety – the highest possible – requires researchers to wear a positive pressure suit that resembles those worn in space and includes a tethered air supply. All manipulation with the virus, which is stored in liquid nitrogen tanks, is done in bio-safety cabinets. When exiting the lab, researchers spend seven minutes in a chemical shower to disinfect themselves, followed by a water rinse. No air escapes from within the BSL-4’s rooms, and each year the CDC lab is shut down for a month to undergo preventative maintenance.
While the CDC is located on the fringes of bustling Atlanta, the Russian smallpox repository, Vector, has an additional safety measure – it is in the middle of nowhere.
Security at both locations is formidable. “I was director of smallpox programmes for many years, and I live one mile from the CDC,” Lane says. “I can’t even get into the building – not just the lab – where smallpox virus is kept.”
http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20140130-last-refuge-of-an-ultimate-killer
“Next to climate change, a shortage of viruses is one of the greatest threats to our continued existence on this planet.”
Brilliant.
I will tell my local reindeer representative... ;o]
+1
What could possibly go wrong?
Mynd yoo, reindeer bytes can be nasti!
(Since all records of obama's past were lost in a tragic boating accident and fire, no one can be certain that the guy in the red circle isn't him...)
Post to me or FReep mail to be on/off the Bring Out Your Dead ping list.
The purpose of the “Bring Out Your Dead” ping list (formerly the “Ebola” ping list) is very early warning of emerging pandemics, as such it has a high false positive rate.
So far the false positive rate is 100%.
At some point we may well have a high mortality pandemic, and likely as not the “Bring Out Your Dead” threads will miss the beginning entirely.
*sigh* Such is life, and death...
And the million dollar question is why?
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