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medpundit |
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Monday, April 14, 2003Scientists in Canada announced over the weekend that they had broken the genetic code of the virus suspected of causing severe acute respiratory syndrome. Sequencing the genome -- which computers at the British Columbia Cancer Agency in Vancouver completed at 4 a.m. Saturday after a team slaved over the problem 24 hours a day for a mere six days -- is the first step toward developing a diagnostic test for the SARS virus, and possibly a vaccine. Amazingly quick work. Like Dr. McCoy in Star Trek. And it appears to be unrelated to any other known coronavirus: Canadian researchers said the genome appears to be that of a "completely new" coronavirus unrelated to any known human or animal viruses. That may make it harder to control. If it had been related to an animal virus, controlling human exposure to the animal of origin would help to contain the spread of the disease. Makes you wonder where it came from. A lab? ADDENDUM: I don't mean to imply that the SARS coronavirus is a bioweapon. It could have been accidently introduced from a lab doing genetic manipulation on viruses. The reasons for that sort of work could be benign - or not. posted by Sydney on 4/14/2003 01:08:00 PM 0 comments 0 Comments: |
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