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Most species of macaque monkeys (rhesus, cynomolgus) can carry a virus known as B virus, Herpesvirus simiae or Cercopithecine Herpes Virus I. It is very similar to human herpes virus which causes cold sores in humans. In the monkey, the virus causes simple cold sores. In the monkey, the virus usually does not cause disease or symptoms. Infection with B virus is extremely rare in humans; however, when it does occur, the infection can result in severe neurologic impairment or fatal encephalomyelitis if the patient is not treated soon after exposure. Immediate diagnosis and treatment with antiviral drugs has saved lives. The procedure outlined below is adapted from recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and has been shown to reduce the risk of contracting Herpes B in the event of a bite or other wound, or an exposure to mucous membranes or broken skin. Since B virus has a high prevalence in conventional primate colonies, and animals can carry the disease without showing symptoms, it is best to assume that all primates are infected. Body fluids such as saliva and urine present the highest risk to workers. Caretakers are at special risk, since routine care and cage washing involves frequent contact with sharp edges on contaminated cages and production of aerosols from spraying animal waste. In laboratories, activities such as pipetting, opening containers and centrifuging urine, blood or mucosal swabs can present risk of contamination. Use of protective clothing, eye protection and respiratory protection are essential. Consistent caution and respect for the monkey is always a good idea. In addition, if you ever spot what looks like a cold sore on a monkey, be sure to contact RAR before handling the animal or its cage.
Before official contact: Time immemorial-1790 During the 1770s, smallpox (variola major) eradicated at least 30 percent of the indigenous population on the Northwest coast of North America, including the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh. This disease was one of the most deadly that hit the region over the next 80 to 100 years. During the 80 year period from the 1770s to 1850, smallpox, measles, influenza, and other diseases had killed many villages and communities. In oral histories that survived, describes the 1770s epidemic. An "aged informant" of the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, in the 1890s, related the history of a catastrophic illness to ethnographer Charles Hill-Tout. He wrote: “[A] dreadful misfortune befell them. ... One salmon season the fish were found to be covered with running sores and blotches, which rendered them unfit for food. But as the people depended very largely upon these salmon for their winter’s food supply, they were obliged to catch and cure them as best they could, and store them away for food. They put off eating them till no other food was available, and then began a terrible time of sickness and distress. A dreadful skin disease, loathsome to look upon, broke out upon all alike. None were spared. Men, women, and children sickened, took the disease and died in agony by hundreds, so that when the spring arrived and fresh food was procurable, there was scarcely a person left of all their numbers to get it. Camp after camp, village after village, was left desolate. The remains of which, said the old man, in answer by my queries on this, are found today in the old camp sites or midden-heaps over which the forest has been growing for so many generations. Little by little the remnant left by the disease grew into a nation once more, and when the first white men sailed up the Squamish in their big boats, the tribe was strong and numerous again”[10] The epidemic of the 1770s was the first and the most devastating more to follow. During the next few decades other damaging outbreaks would attack this area. A smallpox epidemic in 1800-1801, influenza in 1836-1837, measles in 1847-1848, smallpox again in 1862.
funded by the German research community. This was one of the reason blood groups were so actively studied in the 1930s: When Otto Reche founded the German Society for Blood group Research in 1926, one of the main reasons he gave for this was t see if he could find a reliable means of distinguishing various races in the test tube. Scientists, In other words, were simply "Pawns" in the hands of Nazi officials. But without a strong state to back them, racial hygienists were relatively impotent. It was not until 1933 that the programs of the pre-Nazi period gained the support of officials willing to move aggressively in this area
Originally posted by tropic
Wonder why we humans happen to have a pair less chromosomes than the rest of apes.
If our pair of chromosomes did not fuse the way they did, would hominids produce viable and fertile offspring with the other apes (where breeding attempted)?
Materials science and nanotechnology Current trends in nanotechnology promise to make much more versatile use of viruses. From the viewpoint of a materials scientist, viruses can be regarded as organic nanoparticles. Their surface carries specific tools designed to cross the barriers of their host cells. The size and shape of viruses, and the number and nature of the functional groups on their surface, is precisely defined. As such, viruses are commonly used in materials science as scaffolds for covalently linked surface modifications. A particular quality of viruses is that they can be tailored by directed evolution. The powerful techniques developed by life sciences are becoming the basis of engineering approaches towards nanomaterials, opening a wide range of applications far beyond biology and medicine.[220] Because of their size, shape, and well-defined chemical structures, viruses have been used as templates for organizing materials on the nanoscale. Recent examples include work at the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, D.C., using Cowpea Mosaic Virus (CPMV) particles to amplify signals in DNA microarray based sensors. In this application, the virus particles separate the fluorescent dyes used for signalling to prevent the formation of non-fluorescent dimers that act as quenchers.[221] Another example is the use of CPMV as a nanoscale breadboard for molecular electronics.[222] Synthetic viruses Many viruses can be synthesized de novo ("from scratch") and the first synthetic virus was created in 2002.[223] Although somewhat of a misconception, it is not the actual virus that is synthesized, but rather its DNA genome (in case of a DNA virus), or a cDNA copy of its genome (in case of RNA viruses). For many virus families the naked synthetic DNA or RNA (once enzymatically converted back from the synthetic cDNA) is infectious when introduced into a cell. That is, they contain all the necessary information to produce new viruses. This technology is now being used to investigate novel vaccine strategies.[224] The ability to synthesize viruses has far-reaching consequences, since viruses can no longer be regarded as extinct, as long as the information of their genome sequence is known and permissive cells are available. Currently, the full-length genome sequences of 2408 different viruses (including smallpox) are publicly available at an online database, maintained by the National Institutes of Health.[225]
Originally posted by watchitburn
Interesting
But, there are a few holes in your theory.
1. Bacteria and viruses out number every other species of plant and animal on this planet by a staggering amount.
-It doesn't take a leap of faith to know a lot of them will be harmful to humans. This should also make you stop to think about who really runs this planet.
2. You completely ignore the very real possibility that any planet we might visit would have it's own bacteria-sphere/viruses waiting to kill us off just as quickly.
We humans have an RH factor. And iv posted about this extensively. The Rhesus monkey can carry...
Also don't ignore the fact. We are linked the Rhesus monkeys.
If we humans basically are based off monkeys.
Humans can have blood types A, B, AB, or O. This is known as the ABO blood group system, and it is a polymorphism. A polymorphism is defined as a "genetic locus with two or more alleles that occur in appreciable (>1%) frequency in a given population" (www.as.ua.edu...). The ABO blood group system was the first polymorphism discovered in humans. It is however only one of MANY systems involving the red blood cells.
Humans can have blood types A, B, AB, or O. This is known as the ABO blood group system, and it is a polymorphism. A polymorphism is defined as a "genetic locus with two or more alleles that occur in appreciable (>1%) frequency in a given population" (www.as.ua.edu...). The ABO blood group system was the first polymorphism discovered in humans. It is however only one of MANY systems involving the red blood cells. Antibodies and Antigens Understanding the difference between antibodies and antigens is essential to understanding the ABO blood group system and its evolution. Antibodies are substances produced by the body when it is invaded and act to protest it from the foreign substance. Antigens are found in the invading substance and elicit the production of antibodies. The two substances, thus, work in conjunction with each other. Typically, the body does not produce antibodies until AFTER it has been introduced to a new substance. The blood group antigens, on the other hand, are produced during the development of the circulatory system of the fetus. Because these antibodies are present, blood of certain types will be incompatible. Before this was understood, death was often the result in transfusions and transplants. Since Landsteiner's discovery, hundreds of specificities in human blood types have been determined (Socha et al., 1984). The ABO blood group system remains the most widely used. WHY STUDY THE EVOLUTION OF HUMAN BLOOD TYPES?? There are several reasons scientists are interested in studying the evolution of human blood types -- the predominant reason being it helps them to understand the place humans occupy in evolution's branching tree. In other words, by studying the similarities and differences between human and non-human primate blood groups scientists can determine who our closest common ancestors are and the degree of our relationship.
What Distinguishes A, B, and O blood types from each other? The type of blood a person has is determined by alleles at a single locus at chromosome 9 (Martinko et al., 1993). These alleles encode for different amino acids called glycotransferases. In order to be blood type A, cytosine at nucleotide site 793 translates to leucine 265 and guanine at nucleotide site 800 transloates to glycine 267. In order to be blood type B, the cytosine at 793 translates to methionone 265 and the guanine at 800 to alanine 267 (Martinko et al., 1993). Blood type AB occurs when both changes occur. Blood type O is caused when an inactive or nonfunctional protein is coded for. Martinko et al. (1993) remarked regarding these changes that it is "surprising that they have such a great effect on the A and B transferases" because the amino acids do not differ greatly from each other. What About the Blood Types of Other Primates? The ABO polymorphism exists in many primate species other than just humans and in all anthropoid primates (Diamond, 1997). Blood groups of primates have been studied since 1911 when Dungern and Hirszfeld found an A antigen on chimpanzee red cells (Socha et al., 1984). According to Socha et al., (1984), early studies indicated "striking similarities" between the A-B-O antigens of man and those of anthropoid apes. It was not until the 1960's that research methods improved enough to learn that many similarities existed between human and non-human primates as well as some subtle differences. In their 1984 study, Socha et al. stated that the two groups were "intimately serologically related." Because of similarities in the immunological responses between human and non-human primates, the same techniques used for testing human blood were used for other primate species. Scientists have studied certain primate species in much greater depth than others. As a result, we do not know equally about the blood groups of all primates. In the following sections, some of the most researched groups will be explained.
CHIMPANZEES Of the Old World monkeys, the chimpanzee has been the most studied (Socha et al., 1984). Interestingly, they have predominantly blood type A and in rare cases blood type O, but NEVER blood type B (Socha et al., 1984). Most blood systems found in chimpanzees also exist in man, but there are some species specific characteristics. The chimpanzee is thought to be the ancestor of Cro-magnon man.
GORILLAS In contrast to chimpanzees, gorillas have been found to possess ONLY blood type B. Some evolutionary scientists believe the gorilla to be the ancestor of Neanderthal man.
BABOONS Baboons, on the other hand, have been found to possess A, B, and O blood types. The hominoids, humans and the great apes, express the ABO antigens on red blood cells, but baboons do not. In baboons, the antigens were found in other tissue cells. Although the similarity in alleles exist in baboons and humans, the mutations which are in human O alleles are not found in baboon O alleles. This suggests a different origin for the O blood types in each species (Diamond et al., 1997). Unlike humans who have a large percentage of O, in baboons O has arisen several times but remains relatively rare. This suggests a possible selection working against type O in baboons. Humans, baboons and orangutans have maintained their polymorphism. Because of the absence of B from chimpanzees and O and A from gorillas, the locus determining this phenotype must no longer be under strong selection pressure in the hominoids.
SO WHAT DOES ALL THIS MEAN? Scientists have determined by using average mutation rate and considering the required mutations that the divergence of A and B (at nucleotides 793 and 800) must have occurred before humans, chimps, and gorillas had separated and likely before orangutans broke off. Thus A and B diverged at least 13 million years ago (Martin, 1990). In chimps and gorillas, the A and B allele seem to be fixed (Martinko, 1993). Some sources state that the two types are likely of separate origin (aol.com...), but that they are the original types, not O. Other evidence used to trace man's evolutionary ancestors to these non-human primates is the MN blood system. Man is M and N; whereas chimps are anti-N and gorillas are anti-M. O is not the original blood type as was previously thought (members.aol.com...).
IS SELECTION AT WORK TODAY? If these blood groups are being selected against, the agent is not restricted to humans because the system has been around for over 13 million years. There is only indirect evidence for the possibility of natural selection in the evolutionary pattern of ABO groups (Saitou and ). To link natural selection to the frequency of A, B, O phenotypic frequency requires more evidence. One such study was completed by Boren et al. (1993), in which a bacterium casing gastric disorders was linked to blood type (Saitou ). The researchers found there to be less receptors for the bacterium in blood types A and B, thus people with blood type O were more susceptible. If more blood types could be linked to microorganisms, there would be more evidence for natural selection. Several question remain. For example, if natural antibodies help to protect the body against parasites, then why is O, which has both A and B, antibodies not at an advantage? Also, O is a nonfunctional allele, yet it is quite common in certain areas like South America where it is fixed in the population. This seems to contradict standard mutation drift selection which does not favor nonfunctional alleles (Nazzareno et al., 1995).
There is also a question as to whether selection is at work today in the interacions between mother and fetus. Some studies have concluded that in mothers with type A blood who are carrying a fetus of type O (and vice versa), there is incompatibility which will result in the spontaneous abortion of the fetus. In summary, it appears that humans, chimpanzees, and gorilla (and likely ornagutan) followed the same evolutionary origin when comparing their blood types. Because the A and O exist in chimps this is likely the ancestral form of these types found in humans today. The B type found in gorillas today was likely ancestral form found in humans.
The RH negative can be explained like this. Its a genetic alteration.
Its quite possible that it is the same genetic effect you get when you make hybrids like a mule.
Rh negatives cannot be cloned.
Its the result of these experiements between the gods and the apes that resulted in the RH negative blood type. As the blood type may be more Alien then it is Human.