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To: FairOpinion
The technical errors in this article really kill the credibility. The product is "antibodies"? Antibodies are manufactured by the immune system in response to exposure to a foreign antigen. It is common practice to make such preparations as "tetanus toxoid" which is an antibody preparation injected to counteract tetanus toxins. The reference to "antibodies" in the article is pretty nebulous.

Another gaffe. An antibiotic that attack DNA synthesis. You don't want to give that to a human being. Humans are DNA based. Most antibiotics are targeted a weaknesses in a bacterium that are not shared by the infected host. Penicillin attacks the peptidoglycan mesh that makes up the cell wall of a Gram position bacterium. Chloramphicol and Clindamycin disrupts bacterial ribosomal transcription of mRNA into proteins without disrupting the protein systhesis of the host's cells.

The article is busy baffling the uninformed with technical BS in an attempt to gain credibility. The FDA certainly needs some reform, but the crusaders need to hire some better informed troops to carry their water.

3 posted on 02/02/2003 3:00:10 AM PST by Myrddin
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To: Myrddin
The FDA certainly needs some reform, but the crusaders need to hire some better informed troops to carry their water.

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I don't vouch for the knowledge of the article's writer, but Ken Alibek knows what he is talking about. (Alibek is a biologist, who has worked on the Russian bioterror programs, and is quite knowledgeable. Now he is associated with one or more biotech companies, and is experiencing the frustration of having to deal with the FDA)

But this wouldn't be the first time, when scientists are explaining things, or trying, to laymen writers and then things get stated incorrectly. I see that all the time and notice it on TV and articles talking about my areas of expertise.

I think journalists in general have become very lax about making sure that things they state are indeed accurate, rather than just throw in some buzz words.
4 posted on 02/02/2003 1:35:42 PM PST by FairOpinion
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