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-- Viral Fossil Brought Back to Life=
Viral Fossil Brought Back to Life=
Sometimes I cringe when the "Because we can" Outwieghs, "Is this a good Idea?"
Kind of like Jurasic Park. Nature choose to make these things to die out........ Would like your POVs on this........ Cause the whole US + the West sucks balls attitude is getting old... 
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Viral Fossil Brought Back to Life By Martin Enserink ScienceNOW Daily News 1 November 2006 In a controversial study, researchers have resurrected a retrovirus that infected our ancestors millions of years ago and now sits frozen in the human genome. Published online by Genome Research this week, the study may shed new light on the history of these genomic intruders, as well as their role in tumors. Although this particular virus, dubbed Phoenix, is a wimpy one, some argue that resuscitating any ancient virus is inherently risky and that the study should have undergone stricter reviews. Retroviruses have the ability to make DNA copies of their RNA genomes and incorporate these into the host's genome. If this happens in a germ cell, the copy can be passed on to future generations. Indeed, the human genome is littered with the remnants of such human endogenous retroviruses (HERVs) (ScienceNOW, 29 September 2004). So far, researchers had been unable to recover a complete, functional HERV from a human genome however; part of the reason, they assumed, was that mutations accumulated over the millennia had rendered such viruses dysfunctional. A team led by Thierry Heidmann at the Institut Gustave Roussy in Villejuif, France, near Paris, decided to try to awaken the ancestor of an entire family of HERVs called HERV-K(HML2). To "correct" for mutations, the researchers took dozens of known HERV-K(HML2) sequences and aligned them to create a so-called "consensus" sequence. Then they converted this information into a complete viral genome. The researchers showed that the newly crated virus could infect a variety of human cell lines and replicate. But its infectivity was extremely low, perhaps because human cells have evolved resistance against such viral invaders. "I think it's pretty exciting," says John Coffin, who studies retroviruses at Tufts University in Boston. Phoenix may shed new light on how HERVs became part of the human genome and what role they play there, he says; it may also be a tool to study endogenous retroviruses' alleged role in tumor progression. Others worry that the study sets a dangerous precedent. Although it was approved by the French research ministry's Genetic Engineering Committee, Richard Ebright, a molecular biologist at Rutgers University in New Jersey, says any study that creates new viruses or activates old ones should be subject to a special review at the national or international level. What's more, he says, because the researchers couldn't be absolutely sure about Phoenix's infectivity, the study should have been carried out under Biosafety level 4 conditions--the best-protected labs available--instead of the level 3 conditions utilized. In the field, the wisdom of reviving endogenous retroviruses has long been debated, says Johannes L�wer, president of the Paul Ehrlich Institute in Langen, Germany, who decided against the idea himself. But Heidmann contends the risks in his study were extremely low. The virus was genetically modified in such a way that it could replicate only once, he explains, and a previous study had suggested it would have weak infectivity. |
Well I understand your worries, but I think that as the article said - we have evloved quite a bit of immunity to these things.
The Jurassic Park mentality, that we can overcome the gaps in genetic engineering and have crazy, deadly animals on the loose is compelling but unlikely. There are much more dangerous virii out there that we either wont be able to evolve past, or pose bigger challenges than the ones we survived.
As for whether it will teach us something? I think the French just like to be first at everything, like the facial recon surgery. Doesnt mean its good, just first|
I agree, but then, there is always that big if.....
kind of like the whole:
The world has scores of superpowerful particle accelerators. Last year, a fireball created at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider in Upton, New York, had the characteristics of a black hole. Physicists are reasonably sure that no such black holes could escape and consume Earth.
Reasonably Sure 
INFO
Re: Viral Fossil Brought Back to Life=
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| Originally posted by LazFX Sometimes I cringe when the "Because we can" Outwieghs, "Is this a good Idea?" |
But it sets a dangerous precedent. As they said, this virus is "wimpy" and is not a threat.
This type of research could end up in the wrong hands: militaries and terrorists alike.
Ah, I enjoyed this article.
Viruses that are active can survive about 5000 years in tact; longer dormant.
I have a feeling that these floating (random-like) amino acid chains probably lent a great hand in dealing forth life as it exists now.
Re: Re: Viral Fossil Brought Back to Life=
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| Originally posted by Renegade I don't think there's anything to worry about. Like the article says, "the human genome is littered with the remnants of such human endogenous retroviruses". If the virus was extracted from human DNA, then that should tell us that contracting it didn't prevent our ancestors from reproducing, which is a pretty good sign that it couldn't be particularly dangerous. On a related note, I recently listened to a series of lectures that were held in commemeration of the 30th anniversary of Richard Dawkins' "Selfish Gene" (I can find a link if anyone's interested) and one of the molecular biologists who spoke made the point that about 8% of human DNA is "viral", compared to a mere 5% of our DNA which is responsible for protein creation (this 5% is "all you need to build and run a human being" were his exact words). It's actually amazing to think that there is more information in our genes resposible for transmitting viruses (virii?) from generation to generation than there is information used for creating people: if that isn't a fatal argument against ID, I don't know what is. (Edited for accuracy.) |
Re: Re: Viral Fossil Brought Back to Life=
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| Originally posted by Renegade I don't think there's anything to worry about. Like the article says, "the human genome is littered with the remnants of such human endogenous retroviruses". If the virus was extracted from human DNA, then that should tell us that contracting it didn't prevent our ancestors from reproducing, which is a pretty good sign that it couldn't be particularly dangerous. |
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