Cross-posted from: https://feddit.de/post/8224710
China has reportedly embarked on a controversial path of experimenting with a new Covid-like virus, characterized by a 100% fatality rate in mice. The unfolding scenario raises concerns about the potential risks associated with such experiments, especially the prospect of the virus spilling over into the human population.
Worth noting that most Coronavirus aren’t compatible with humans. The only real danger here is if they actually try to make it human compatible but then we’re talking research that really can’t be called much else than biological warfare research and that’s a big no-no.
I’ve always felt that biological warfare is a really stupid idea for everyone involved. Like, stuff like nuclear and chemical weapons is not nice, but the effects are relatively localized. With biological warfare though, there is no way to absolutely contain the pathogen and to prevent its spread in your own population.
Stupid, evil and risky sure. But nothing will ever be as effective at absolutely and surely decimating the opposition. Vaccines / Antidotes and very careful, deliberate and sinister targeting while limiting ability to mutate can mitigate most of the MAD aspects making a far more terrifying weapon than nukes in how virtually guaranteed to end a nation, continent, planet you can make them.
Pathogen design is reaching a level where it might be feasible to target it against a single physical trait.
Like: if no proper encoding found in the RNA for insulin producing cells, induce some pancreas cells to produce insulin.
Or: if blood cell presents AB+ markers, induce apoptosis.
There are over 40 blood type types identified so far, and new ones keep getting added… plus hundreds of other types of cell markers… which should let one create a genocidal pathogen against a very closely delimited population (plus some collateral damage, but when has that stopped anyone?).
That doesn’t mean they won’t try. Who is going to stop them? Nobody, because we all want cheap tat from Temu and Shein.
I for one completely and blindly trust Winnie the Pooh and his minions not to jeopardize my health.
It says a lot about the site when I’m immediately prompted to “ASK A DOCTOR ONLINE”… Oh and they make it really easy for me to make a tweet sensationalized it too, like real journalists do!
This isn’t news, it’s fear mongering propaganda. There’s PLENTY of stuff to criticize china about. This is normal scientific/medical research.
One thing to keep in mind is that as transmissibility increases, lethality decreases, and that’s not coincidental. The longer it takes for a virus to act, the longer a host body has to suppress it and adapt to it. Fast-acting and highly-lethal viruses depend on carrier populations (like pangolins in this case) to survive, and many individual viral mutations with deadlier characteristics emerge and then die without ever even reaching another host.
Is it possible that you could genetically-engineer a virus to both have a long incubation period AND incredibly high mortality rate? I’m sure it is, but that is not the claim here, just that they are experimenting with a high-mortality, naturally-occurring Coronavirus.
Is it possible that you could genetically-engineer a virus to both have a long incubation period AND incredibly high mortality rate? I’m sure it is
Case in point: HIV. We’re lucky that was not airborne. The whole world would have been infected by the time people started dying.
IT sounds all gloom and doom, but if the original had been that effective we’d have a smaller vaccine-denier population right now. Silver linings and all…
Maybe it makes me a monster but I feel we would have been a lot better off with a higher mortality rate, and I say this as a person who has had covid twice.
One would like to believe that, but there were people literally denying the existence of Covid and vaccine effectiveness with their death rattle as they died from Covid itself.
Sadly, I feel like there’s nothing that would break through that level of obstinate, willful ignorance. If you had huge mass deaths up front people would still deny it, or say it was due to vaccines.
I think you’re missing the point: If covid had been a lot more lethal, then the people who acted in belligerent ignorance would be a significantly smaller portion of the population afterwards.
I’m not here to change people’s minds, that basically impossible unless you are a demagogue.
On the other hand, if the most stubborn, ignorant, and easily fooled people had the brunt of mortalities (which so far very study indicates is true), then if there was a 20% mortality rate, consider what the population of the nation would look after that.
Does that make me a monster? Probably.
