I AM fairly SCARED!!!!

[RYBICKI, ED]

> From:          najital at rockvax.rockefeller.edu (Lyle Najita)
> In article <MAILQUEUE-101.941101093128.384 at molbiol.uct.ac.za>,
> ed at molbiol.uct.ac.za wrote:
> 
> > Rubbish!!  According to an Honours student's essay just handed 
> > me (A Jacobson, 1994), 
> > 
> [stuff deleted] 
> > Does not occur in nature?  Then where did it come from, pray?
> > 
> >  
> Unfortunately it seems that we have a government agency that is 
bent on
> destroying the world by creating and distributing highly lethal 
biological
> warfare agents, or so it would appear from the POV of Mr. Chatski. 
I would
> maintain that nature is far better at selecting and distributing 
such
> agents than we could ever hope to.

Agreed!  And as has been exhaustively thrashed out about HIV, we are 
simply not clever enough (or were not, at the time of the Ebola 
outbreaks) to MAKE anything quite so complicated.  I might point out 
that the true host of monkeypox - which causes nasty smallpox-like 
symptoms in humans in Central Africa, but is not as contagious (?), 
also has not been discovered...or had not, last I was aware when a 
colleague's student was working on it.  So there are a number of 
nasties out there with no known natural host (YET!!!) - are they ALL 
manufactured by the Great Satan?  Take your pick as to which one, 
depending on your ideological flavour...!

  _________________________________________________________________
 | Ed Rybicki, PhD          | The percentage you're paying is too  |
 | (ed at molbiol.uct.ac.za)   | high-priced, and you're living beyond|
 | Dept Microbiology        |  all your means; And the man in the  |
 | University of Cape Town  |    suit has just bought a new car    |
 | Private Bag, Rondebosch  |       From the profit he's made      |
 | 7700, South Africa       |            on your dreams...         |
 | fax: xx27-21-650 4023    |        - Steve Winwood, 1971         |
 | tel: xx27-21-650 3265    |   (Low Spark of High-Heeled Boys)    |
 ------------------------------------------------------------------