A Virus Can Spread Faster Than Originally Thought..

With all of the recent viral scares presented to us by fear-mongering media, it seems like there are a million reasons to be afraid.

However, H1N1 didnt turn out to be the horrific spread that it was promoted to be.

How does a virus work?

Better yet, how FAST can it work?

New video footage of a virus infecting cells is challenging what researchers have long believed about how viruses spread, suggesting that scientists may be able to create new drugs to tackle some viruses. Previously, viruses were thought to spread by entering a cell, replicating there, and then being released to infect new cells, so that the rate of spread of a virus would be limited by how quickly it could replicate in each cell.

That sounds pretty cut and dry, to me.

However, a virus called vaccinia spreads in a different and much faster way, according to a new study in the journal Science by researchers from Imperial College London, funded by the Medical Research Council.
Vaccinia is a poxvirus and is the vaccine that was used to eradicate smallpox. Using live video microscopy, the scientists discovered that it was spreading four times more quickly than thought possible, based on the rate at which it replicates.

How long until we have tinkered with a virus long enough, that it evolves into something we cant control?
Who's to say that hasnt already happened, and we just arent informed?

Out of all of the scares out there, these are the ones that I fear the most.
They cant be seen with the naked eye, or smelled.

The ultimate stealth warriors.

What do you think, fellow ATS'ers?

Full article here.

[edit on 21-1-2010 by InertiaZero]

Originally posted by InertiaZero
How long until we have tinkered with a virus long enough, that it evolves into something we cant control?
Who's to say that hasnt already happened, and we just arent informed?

I don't see how the quote above logically flows from anything in that article. The methods of fast replication discussed in the article are newly discovered, not newly created. Scientists have simply found a gap in our knowledge of viruses and have filled it in, which is wonderful, considering we can now use some of that information to our advantage when designing treatments or vaccines.