The virus epidemic is back!

[NAB]

[The Dharma Bum]

Some types of gene therapy alter the dna, but i don't know if you can really call that a vaccine

[Soloshaddai]

"Viruses are responsible for a range of diseases, including the common cold, influenza, HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) and Ebola. The sole selfish function of a virus is to infect a host (e.g. a human) then use this host to make more copies of its own DNA. It does this by entering a host cell and hijacking its DNA-making machinery, forcing it to make more viral DNA. However, it doesn’t stop there. Once the host cell has made sufficient viral DNA the virus then commandeers the host cell’s other machinery to create more intact viruses which “bud off” from the infected cell ready to infect its neighbours.

So, if viruses are so deadly and infectious can they seriously be used to cure disease? Surprisingly, the answer is yes. The use of viruses to deliver new DNA to human cells is being investigated as part of a technique known as Gene Therapy."

Source:
http://thebrainbank.scienceblog.com/201 ... e-disease/

[eric]

But it doesn't actually alter your DNA. It wrecks the DNA of an infected cell.

Having the DNA of infected cells != altering your DNA.

[Soloshaddai]

[eric]

[The Dharma Bum]

a lot of the human genome is derived from ancient viral infections anyway

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endogenous_retrovirus

[Soloshaddai]

[Soloshaddai]

[eric]

Yes. The emotion I'm experiencing is disappointment that people can be so stupid.

You'll get cancer or some other ailment anyway. Getting vaccines doesn't cause those diseases.