Herpes for mouse control

[arcticpenguin]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=573&ncid=757&e=7&u=/nm/20030407/od_nm/mousetrap_dc

In Australia, a research center wants to try controlling mouse populations by releasing a modified Herpes virus.

Rigorous testing to prove the virus is "species specific" -- which means that it cannot be transferred to other animals or humans -- will be required before expected full release in three years.

I should hope so.

It will be interesting to see if the GMO protesters take this one on.

 

[Dymanic]

That sounds risky. Maybe they should try to find some natural predator they could unleash on the mice instead. I've heard Australia is a great place to conduct such experiments.

 

[Stimpson J. Cat]

Dymanic,

That sounds risky. Maybe they should try to find some natural predator they could unleash on the mice instead. I've heard Australia is a great place to conduct such experiments.

Well, in a sense that is exactly what they've done. In fact, it is better because the predator they have unleashed on the mice is altered to only be dangerous to mice.

By the way, those of you who are getting nervous because of the association between Herpes and STD's, just remember that Chicken Pox is a form of Herpes too.

Dr. Stupid

 

[whitefork]

Would you rather have chicken pox or shingles (herpes zoster)? - quite painful according to those who've been through it.

 

[Stimpson J. Cat]

Whitefork,

Would you rather have chicken pox or shingles (herpes zoster)? - quite painful according to those who've been through it.

I am one of those people. When I was 16 I had shingles in the nerve that runs from the top of the head down to the tip of the nose. It nearly killed me, and I still have a constant tingling sensation in my face from the nerve damage. It also damaged the vision in my right eye.

A couple of good things about it, though. The drug, pain, fever, and sleep-deprivation induced hallucinations I experienced, cured me of any silly notions I may have had about subjective experiences being a reliable source of information about the World. Mystical experiences are one thing, but when you see Micky Mouse driving around your hospital room in a miniature red Corvette, you can be pretty sure that you are not communing with God.

The other nice thing is that after that experience, I no longer really fear pain. I still don't like it, but after being in so much pain that I literally would have killed myself if I had had the strength to do so, little things like bruises and cuts don't really bother me at all. It also gave me a first hand experience of both drug addiction and withdrawal (perkiset and demarol), which cured me of any interest I may have had of getting into drugs.

What doesn't kill or cripple you just makes you stronger.

Dr. Stupid

 

[neutrino_cannon]

Using viruses for any type of control has my approval, so long as any dangers are negligable or addressed.

I've always wondered, why is it that phages can't be used for bacteria control?

 

[Jethro]

Mystical experiences are one thing, but when you see Micky Mouse driving around your hospital room in a miniature red Corvette, you can be pretty sure that you are not communing with God.

Thank you for my first signature on these forums.

 

[whitefork]

Stimpson, you and my mother would have hit it off pretty well. She did, in addition, have a strong dislike for Mickey Mouse, but I don't know whether it predated the shingles or not. And she was a pretty hard-core atheist and materialist, too.

 

[BillyJoe]

By the way, those of you who are getting nervous because of the association between Herpes and STD's, just remember that Chicken Pox is a form of Herpes too.

And the "cold sore" virus is even more closely related to the genital herpes virus.....

Chickenpox/shingles.....Herpes Zoster
Cold sore......................Herpes Simplex 1
Genital Herpes..............Herpes Simplex 2

Not only that, you can get sores on your genital area and genital herpes on your lips

 

[Mark]

Let's see; would I rather have mice or herpes infected mice running around the house? Gee, that's a toughie. And, as we all know, a virus can NEVER mutate, right?

 

[NoZed Avenger]

Cr$p.

I misread this as using MICE to stop HERPES, not the other way around.

What am I going to do with all these mice I mail ordered?

NA

 

[arcticpenguin]

What am I going to do with all these mice I mail ordered?
NA

I suspect I know what you are going to do with those mice, and you should be ashamed of yourself.

 

[Soapy Sam]

Neutrino cannon- the Soviet Union used phages as bacterial controls for years. Much of the research work (largely in Georgia, I believe), ended due to funding crises after Glasnost. Haven't seen it mentioned for some time. A great pity if that channel is lost to us.
I suspect eventually, most medication will be vectored via viruses. Why reinvent the wheel? Exploit what nature has given us. If my sneeze can spread viruses, there's no reason they can't be tailored, benign ones.

 

[NoZed Avenger]

I suspect I know what you are going to do with those mice, and you should be ashamed of yourself.

. . . But I have almost perfected the 'mouse cannon'. Why must you small minded aquatic waterfowl and noise pollution activists continually hound me?! Why must you stand in the way of progress?!

A mouse WILL one day break the sound barrier, I tell you.

NA

 

[Jethro]

A mouse WILL one day break the sound barrier, I tell you.

Without the sound barrier breaking the mouse?

 

[NoZed Avenger]

Without the sound barrier breaking the mouse?

Well, we have had a few . . .er . . .setbacks in the durability area, yes, but I am sure that they are only temporary problems that can be overcome with enough test subjects.

On the bright side, it hasn't affected the flavor.

NA