reply to post by LikeDuhObviously
Slightly misunderstanding my point. Of course the immune system for the fortunate few was already equipped with the means to resist HIV. However,
unforeseen selection pressures are constantly exerted that filter out those who don't have the immune systems to resist HIV. For the medicinal field,
where the problem arises is searching for a cure rather than letting the HIV virus reach its optimal virulence. As of yet, a dead host is a bad host,
and from the HIV virus' point of view, its too virulent. Now, countered with some sort of chemical attack, the virus will only become more virulent.
Left alone, perhaps thousands of years from now the HIV virus will merely be analogous to a seasonal cold, in this case a venereal pest.
I went on a little tangent, but the initial point is we can't anticipate how our body responds to unforeseen selection pressures.
Imagine 100,000 years from now, cane toads evolve into organisms that are 7 feet tall, super athletic, extremely intelligent, and tongues that can
break a man in half with a snap. They force all humans to jump off of a cliff, to their impending death, wiping out the entire species. Jumping off
of a cliff without hang glider or other flight-aid is an unforeseen selection pressure. Perhaps, because our anatomy has yet to be tested with how it
responds to cliff jumping, a tiny fraction of humans will respond favorably to cliff jumping. Their arms will spread out, their sides split open and
a type of membrane stretches from each side to the base of the hand, sort of like a flying squirrel. Now this is unlikely, but the point is,
unforeseen selection pressures may betray traits that always existed, perhaps traits that are vestigial, though never had a reason for being
expressed.
edit on 20-5-2011 by uva3021 because: (no reason given)
