A future without disease

Scientists have constructed a custom enzyme that reverses the process by which the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) inserts its genetic material into host DNA, suggesting that treatment with similar enzymes could potentially rid infected cells of the virus. In tests on cultured human tissue, the mutated enzyme, Tre recombinase, snipped HIV DNA out of chromosomes.

From

www.sciam.com...


Just think of the possibilities that this could bring in medicine, A huge percentages of diseases could be wiped out from affecting humans as the technology and knowledge increases, This is only a start though there are 25 different strains of HIV but still it's promising.

No doubt,future medicine is going to be much more powerfull then current one. For good and bad. But without disease? Even computers have viruses....
So just as now people are much more protected from a lot of diseases from the past but still get ill, in the future it will be the same tendency.
I think that even automatic built-in semi-artificial immune system updated hourly via wi-fi is not going to solve every single disease. Especially auto-immunic one, or imagine someone hacking into this system. The horror ......

Terrific post! The study of genetics will reveal far more than disease irradication in the coming years. I have been facinated by the possible keys to the universe provided by genetics. There is just sooo much we don't know. Consider the following:

Genome sizes of various organisims:

Species/# of base pairs/# of genes

HIV virus/9,700/9

E.coli/4,600,000/3,200

HUMAN/3,000,000,000/25-30,000(we still don't know)

salamander/765,000,000,000/???(no reasonable projection)

Modern information theory recognizes genetic code as language, and what is being communicated is vast and varried. There is the POSSIBILITY that when we examine our DNA we are looking at a frozen momment in time and that our genetic information extends to embrace WHO, not just WHAT we are. If that is in fact the case, the end of HIV is the tip of the iceberg.

Also, frightening notion regarding the "mainframe wi-fi" updates to our genetic code...my imagination never led me there...and reading that reply made the hairs on my neck stand up.

the only thing is, no disease = higher population

if this happens, there will need to be another way to keep the population down.

LOL.... A nice thought but without disease the multi-billion dollar Pharmaceutical companies would cease to exist, researchers would be out of work... You can't have that!

Why do you think we haven't "cured" anything since Polio?

The only "cures" you get are for things that can kill you quick... if there is ANY money in "treatments" you will NEVER get a cure.

Point blank, conspiracies aside if YOU had a cure for the common cold you would never get it patented and if you did by some miracle you would be bought out or whacked.

The only way you will truly get a cure is if some kind heart researcher or inventor immediately published all material on the internet and to the press without the thought of making any personal wealth from it (hopefully fully ready to go with research data or it will be suppressed and just go away). If you try to follow the rules, you will NEVER be successful in that type of endeavor.

Same goes for any type of hydrogen power - Unless the energy companies can make the same or more money and control the distribution of the power source, you will never see it.

Anything that rakes in Billions of dollars a year will not be replaced without a hell of a fight... and your life is worth a whole lot less than the Billions made a year if you know what I mean.


Anyway... the LAW is "treatment" not "cure".