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Unstoppable: is Ebola mutating with unknown consequences before our eyes?
Deutsche Welle ^ | Sept 9, 2014 | Brigitte Osterath

Posted on 09/10/2014 11:17:48 AM PDT by Covenantor

(Blah, blah, blah about Obam)....

(Snip)

Hundreds of mutations

An international research team has analyzed about a hundred Ebola virus genomes from 78 patients in Sierra Leone. The patients were diagnosed with Ebola in late May to mid June.

The researchers found more than 300 genetic changes that make the 214 Ebola virus genomes distinct from the viral genomes tied to previous Ebola outbreaks. Moreover, over 50 changes had occurred since the start of the 2014 outbreak, suggesting the virus is in fact mutating.

There are many cases where a change to the genome of an organism has no consequence.

But in this current outbreak of Ebola - with this particular strain - the researchers found a number of genetic mutations had altered proteins in the virus, potentially with disastrous affect.

The team led by Stephen Gire, a scientist with the Sabeti lab at the Broad Institute and Harvard University, wrote about their findings in "Science". They say some of the changes could influence doctors' ability to diagnose Ebola in the field. The data suggest that "continued progression of this epidemic could afford an opportunity for viral adaptation, underscoring the need for rapid containment."

Unknown consequences

But Stephen Gires says they "don't know whether these differences are related to the severity of the current outbreak."

Jonas Schmidt-Chanasit agrees, saying it is impossible to judge by looking at an altered genome whether the changes will translate to alter the biological appearance of a virus.

"Even if a virus mutates rapidly, it doesn't mean something will happen," Schmidt-Chanasit says. Many changes are minor. They are bound to happen when a virus spills over from one host to another, and especially in an epidemic, such as the one we are seeing in western Africa.

The area of research which investigates the relationship between genomes and the "behavior" of a virus in the field is called reverse genetics, and it's in its infancy.

Schmidt-Chanasit says that if investigations regarding this behavior in Ebola were to start now, they would take long time to complete, and would be of little help in the current outbreak....more at link


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: ebola; mutate
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Interesting new Ebola virus info.
1 posted on 09/10/2014 11:17:48 AM PDT by Covenantor
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To: Smokin' Joe; null and void; Black Agnes

Bleedin’ plague ping


2 posted on 09/10/2014 11:20:42 AM PDT by Covenantor ("Men are ruled...by liars who refuse them news, and by fools who cannot govern." Chesterton)
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To: Covenantor

Interesting.
Wonder if it is really a lab escape.


3 posted on 09/10/2014 11:22:37 AM PDT by Darksheare (Try my coffee! First one's free..... Even robots will kill for it!)
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To: Covenantor

4 posted on 09/10/2014 11:24:18 AM PDT by billorites (freepo ergo sum)
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"Unstoppable: is Ebola mutating with unknown consequences before our eyes?"

Females and minorities hardest hit.

5 posted on 09/10/2014 11:27:50 AM PDT by Enterprise ("Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities." Voltaire)
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To: Covenantor

Of course, this administration will do exactly the wrong thing - let patients in so they can spread it here.


6 posted on 09/10/2014 11:30:50 AM PDT by I want the USA back (Media: completely irresponsible. Complicit in the destruction of this country.)
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To: Covenantor

Well, of course, Ebola is mutating with unknown consequences. That’s what viruses do. They mutate to survive.


7 posted on 09/10/2014 11:31:31 AM PDT by BuckeyeTexan (There are those that break and bend. I'm the other kind. ~Steve Earle)
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To: Covenantor

the sky is falling.... the sky is falling

viruses tend to mutate....


8 posted on 09/10/2014 11:33:08 AM PDT by Nifster
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To: Covenantor
I remember reading "The Andromeda Strain" as a kid when it first came out.
Sorta' like that....
9 posted on 09/10/2014 11:33:47 AM PDT by Psalm 73 ("Gentlemen, you can't fight in here - this is the War Room".)
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To: Covenantor

Liberal Academia has been wanting a bvirus to wipe out the “overpopulation”....

http://www.pearceyreport.com/archives/2006/04/transcript_dr_d.php/


10 posted on 09/10/2014 11:34:58 AM PDT by GraceG (No, My Initials are not A.B.)
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To: Covenantor

The “rapid containment” horse is just about out of the barn.

Where will you put the huge army ready to kill to enforce a quarantine on Western Africa?

If you aren’t willing to do that, then geographic spread is assured.


11 posted on 09/10/2014 11:37:00 AM PDT by Uncle Miltie (Clinton / Bush 2016?)
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To: BuckeyeTexan
That’s what viruses do. They mutate to survive.

Teleological fallacy.

12 posted on 09/10/2014 11:39:26 AM PDT by steve86 ( Acerbic by nature, not nurture)
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To: All

LOL, such crazy ideas about sudden and unexpected


13 posted on 09/10/2014 11:39:57 AM PDT by Peter ODonnell (Pray for the restoration of a strong and free USA)
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To: Darksheare

“lab escape” No, just over crowding. Judges ruled they had to be released.


14 posted on 09/10/2014 11:41:10 AM PDT by Cold Heart
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To: Peter ODonnell

???
Please explain.


15 posted on 09/10/2014 11:41:48 AM PDT by Darksheare (Try my coffee! First one's free..... Even robots will kill for it!)
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To: Cold Heart

Wrong kind of lab!
*snicker*


16 posted on 09/10/2014 11:42:14 AM PDT by Darksheare (Try my coffee! First one's free..... Even robots will kill for it!)
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To: Covenantor

Never let a perceived threat go to waste! Thank God we all have access to Obamacare to fight this nasty bug!


17 posted on 09/10/2014 11:48:54 AM PDT by b4its2late (A Liberal is a person who will give away everything he doesn't own.)
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To: Covenantor
When President Barack Obama announced the deployment of US forces to West Africa he said in an interview on Sunday that immediate intervention was vital.

Otherwise, said Obama, Ebola could mutate, making it more easily transmittable, "and then it could be a serious danger to the United States."

That's the ticket.

Send in US troops to stop the mutating!

18 posted on 09/10/2014 11:51:32 AM PDT by sonofagun (Some think my cynicism grows with age. I like to think of it as wisdom!)
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To: Peter ODonnell

Here’s a “Crazy Idea” for you to ponder: our government doesn’t screen immigrants for infectious diseases anymore, not HIV, tuberculosis, etc.
Combine that with our swiss cheese border.


19 posted on 09/10/2014 11:51:48 AM PDT by Darksheare (Try my coffee! First one's free..... Even robots will kill for it!)
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To: steve86

Teleological fallacy.

<><><><<

Not in the slightest.

Demonstrably true by observation.


20 posted on 09/10/2014 12:03:51 PM PDT by dmz
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