I need infos!!!

[Ed Rybicki]

> To:            virology at net.bio.net
> From:          maga at vetbio.unizh.ch (Giovanni Maga)
> Subject:       Re: I need infos!!!

> In article <4babcv$mnk at news.doit.wisc.edu>, Wilfred Perlmutter
> <laurfluff at macc.wisc.edu> wrote:
> > To all who Mock Me:
> > I feel that my concerns are legit.

Giovanni:
> OK, so you were not joking. Too bad guy, you've lost a good opportunity.

Other:
> > You should be interested in knowing that a friend of mine who is a 
> > biostatistician working with viruses and related phenomenae informed me 
> > that the chance that viruses could evolve on their own is virtually 
> > infinitesimally small.  Simply more hard data backing me up.

Giovanni:
> If true, how your friend explain biodiversity in general or evolution of
> influenza viruses that come up with different strains every year?
> Better you start to study molecular biology (together with your friend
> maybe...).

Seconded...!  I thought the original exchange was a brilliant piece 
of sarcasm a la Monty Python...but maybe it wasn't.

And as for biostatistician's views on the probability of viruses 
evolving...they'll still be searching for all of the data needed to 
accurately do such a calculation when we're all diesembodied 
intelligences sitting in a plasma cloud.  In a black hole, with the 
Heechee....

Viruses are, whether we think they should be or not.

PS: Happy Silly Season, vironauts.



                     Ed Rybicki, PhD  
      Dept Microbiology     |  ed at molbiol.uct.ac.za   
   University of Cape Town  | phone: x27-21-650-3265
   Private Bag, Rondebosch  |  fax: x27-21-650 4023
      7700, South Africa    |   
    WWW URL: http://www.uct.ac.za/microbiology/ed.html      
                                        
"And then one day you find, ten years have got behind you"