Good rule of thumb: if the title is a question, the answer is no.
I came to say the same thing. The moment I see that question mark, the skeptical side of me comes into play.
From MIT, a cure for all viruses?
61–70 of 115 posts
Re: From MIT, a cure for all viruses?
#62Company start-up name ... maybe ... Umbrella Corporation
Re: From MIT, a cure for all viruses?
#63It seems that DRACO works by binding double-stranded RNA. This will work for many, but not all, viruses. Viruses can also have single stranded RNA genomes, like influenza, as well as single- and double-stranded DNA genomes, like herpes. Optimistically, this is s cure for a subclass of viruses.
Did you read the article? It's not related to the virus's genome, it's related to the RNA that genome produces, which the interviewee contends is always doublestranded. In fact they specifically address DNA viruses and herpes.
Re: From MIT, a cure for all viruses?
#64Good rule of thumb: if the title is a question, the answer is no.
A good rule of thumb for mainstream media news reporting, but not for blog posts, scientific papers, books, or other such categories.
Re: From MIT, a cure for all viruses?
#65Earlier quoted context omitted.
The drug kills the cell but the not virus -- your body still has to do that. Given the way that vaccines work, this is probably not going to have a big effect on immunity.
I'm missing a bit of the logic here, then. If I kill the cells infected, won't the latent viruses go and infect a different cell anyway? DRACO appears to be a medical scorched-earth policy.
No, viruses aren't just free floating strands of genetic material, they also have a sort of molecular syringe that they use to get through the cell wall and to protect them in the environment outside the cell. The genetic material itself won't be that dangerous after the cell dies.
Re: From MIT, a cure for all viruses?
#66This is great until the fallout is destroying all the potentially "good" viruses with which humans are infected. Little research has been done to determine the good bugs. You can guarantee lots of beneficial viruses will be identified once the adverse affects of their absence begins wreaking havoc.
I came on to inquire precisely that. This would most likely kill the good viruses, too. What are they going to do to counteract those virii death?
Re: From MIT, a cure for all viruses?
#67Good rule of thumb: if the title is a question, the answer is no.
http://arxiv.org/abs/1110.2832
A superb example.
Re: From MIT, a cure for all viruses?
#68Sounds promising. It'll be interesting to watch and see how this evolves. Here's an off-topic comment issued in the spirit of constructive criticism for the site (please don't downvote based on this): If any HN reader has an account with process.org could you --if you agree, of course-- suggest that a small gray font against a gray background is simply not a good idea? On an iPad without zooming it is really strainin…
If website backgrounds really bother you (and surely process.org isn't the only culprit), try using the Reader button in the top bar of Mobile Safari. Or try using ihackernews.com, there's an "Article Text" link that works very well for just showing you the body of an article on a simple white background.
Re: From MIT, a cure for all viruses?
#69This is great until the fallout is destroying all the potentially "good" viruses with which humans are infected. Little research has been done to determine the good bugs. You can guarantee lots of beneficial viruses will be identified once the adverse affects of their absence begins wreaking havoc.
I've never heard of any 'good' viruses. I think you're applying the analogy of benefiical bacteria to viruses, assuming there must be beneficial viruses as well. In the artcile he somewhat addresses this by saying any cell infected by a virus will be killed at some point regardless, so DRACO wouldn't do any additional damage.
Now, I think you're implying that there might be 'good' viruses that we haven't discovered yet. I feel like if that's the case then other animals would certianly have them as well and we would surely figure that out before we got to human trials.
Re: From MIT, a cure for all viruses?
#70Sounds promising. It'll be interesting to watch and see how this evolves. Here's an off-topic comment issued in the spirit of constructive criticism for the site (please don't downvote based on this): If any HN reader has an account with process.org could you --if you agree, of course-- suggest that a small gray font against a gray background is simply not a good idea? On an iPad without zooming it is really strainin…
Yeah, I had to take the time to implement a custom stylish style for the website in firefox before I started reading it.