Medical Research Accidentally Transmits Virus from Mammals to Birds

Point being, "If it happened once..."

Unexpected Origin of an Avian Virus

The transmission of reticuloendotheliosis viruses from mammals to birds was most likely an unexpected consequence of medical research.

A report published today (August 27) in PLOS Biology tells the surprising story of reticuloendotheliosis virus (REV) evolution and how, in the 1930s, unwitting malaria researchers were most likely responsible for transmitting REV from mammals to birds. The report highlights the importance of modern-day virus monitoring to limit potentially adverse transmission effects.

...“It’s basically an example of a contamination that went rogue . . . and extraordinary bad luck.”

Extraordinary bad luck? I think not.

reply to post by soficrow


Thanks for posting your find.
S&F.
It may have been accidental.... but I am sure there are plenty of labs that we don't know anything about that are actually engineering this stuff.

reply to post by butcherguy

I am sure there are plenty of labs that we don't know anything about that are actually engineering this stuff

Me too. ...Between all the accidents and purposeful actions we are well and truly fubarred. Still, life does find a way - true, complex life tends to move more slowly than the structurally simple stuff, but it will be interesting to see what emerges. On a side note, too bad all the moneyed fools are spending their research dollars trying to get us complex organisms back to a state that emphatically is NOT adapted to our current environment.


Thanks btw.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing eh.

Unfortunately as obvious as these mistakes and accidents are to us now, at the time they just didn't know - but over all, aren't we glad that they did? (mostly)

reply to post by Biigs

...over all, aren't we glad that they did? (mostly)

Erm. No, I'm not. ...All the "wonder drugs" were developed to maximize profit - NOT to help people best, or protect the environment. There were other options presented, fought for and over-ruled in favour of greed. We're paying for greed, not progress.