"The Most effective bioweapon known"

Now that the 1918 virus has been ressurrected and mapped, there is a great deal of concern that this strain could potentially be made into a biological weapon. A weapon that none of us have ever seen. Those that posses the virus would be able to produce a vaccine and then unleash the virus on the world.

The The potential fallout could kill millions, espiacially if the part of the virus that control it's fatality rate is manipulated.

According to the Journal of Nature, which published an overview of the data collected after ressurecting the 1918 strain by exuming a body carrying the strain form the Alaskan everfrost, the 1918 stari has been examined and there is solid evidence to suggest that the 1918 flu evolved out of an Avian strain. Some scientists argure that the ressurection of the 1918 starin could very likely escape the research faclility and cause its own pandemic.

The risk of bioterrorism is present because of the availability of the DNA/RNA mapping of the virus.

I'm skeptical. First off, the current form of the virus does not appear to be transmittable from person to person. That limits its effectiveness right there.

Also, a biological weapon isn't like a block of plastic explosives. You would need a very good laboratory with the right equipment and personnel to grow the virus en masse. I don't think that a terrorist group nowadays could do such a thing. Rogue nations have a better chance of doing something like this.

I mean, hell, we're talking about genetic engineering here. It's not like you put the virus into a box and turn a switch that goes from "Virus" to "Super Virus." We're talking serious science. To do that would require well-educated workers and a decent facility.

It just doesn't sound feasible for a terrorist group to do - only for an entire country.

Is it possible that you could post some links to this information of the mapping or other pertinent info.?

-Reason

Originally posted by Toxic Fox

I mean, hell, we're talking about genetic engineering here. It's not like you put the virus into a box and turn a switch that goes from "Virus" to "Super Virus." We're talking serious science. To do that would require well-educated workers and a decent facility.

It just doesn't sound feasible for a terrorist group to do - only for an entire country.

Most serious "profiles" of powers who might use bioweapons conclude that corporate states, not nation states are most likely to unleash such plagues.

...Lunatic terrorists would do it if they had the resources - but they don't. And they can't afford to buy them.

It's all moot anyway - mother nature is adapting to our industrial pollution, and now all our friendly neighborhood microbes are mutating faster than you can think.

Terrorists are NOT required.


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These are pretty good storys of what was researched and found:

www.washingtonpost.com.../science
www.nature.com...

When I first read about it, it sounded like a half dozen missing parts had to be fudged in. But this article says all parts were reconstructed from fragments, and confirmed by the second set of samples.

Bio-weapon? We have some resistance to the old strain, and modern drugs that might have a chance against it. I agree that almost no one can create or modify a virus. And it can't be done overnight. But yes, the 1918 virus was the worst panademic ever seen, and it still has potential.

If you haven't seen it, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) has a great website: www.cdc.gov...