Highest Rated Comments


hubricht143 karma

I'm greedy so I'm going to ask a second question.

Do you foresee the progress being made with the CRISPR program as an indication that humans will eventually be able to render ourselves genetically immune to illnesses that have historically killed hundreds of millions of people?

hubricht53 karma

Do you think that the world is prepared to handle the reemergence of ancient superviruses that have laid dormant in permafrost? Will global warming have as large a role to play in the spreading of these illnesses as some experts contend?

hubricht32 karma

One of the issues that I can see with attempting to use CRISPR to prevent illnesses is that viruses and bacteria are constantly changing, yes? As you mentioned with the 1918 influenza pandemic, the virus doesn't display the same genetic markers as H1N1 and so on. So if we modify our genetic material to prevent illnesses that we know about already, that doesn't necessarily guarantee that we will be immune to future illnesses.

hubricht12 karma

Do you anticipate having to deal with this problem sooner rather than later? Additionally, what sort of funding (if any) does the CDC and associated organizations have to dedicate towards this looming threat?

hubricht11 karma

When you say that viable material could be obtained, do you mean with the intent of creating a vaccine?