Repost re: possible reservoir for Ebola/Marburg

[Chuckles]

In article <3p3tdc$gv at newsbf02.news.aol.com>,
   petermsull at aol.com (PeterMSull) wrote:
>Forgive me for posting someone else's thoughts/writings on an important
>subject, but I believe the ideas put forth by Walter Lundby a few months
>back ( I save my sessions in this group for reference ) to be thought
>provoking at least. Sometimes it takes one outside the field to see
>something in a way in which people more "concentrated" otherwise may not.
>So please forgive me Walter, but I think your proposal has become even
>more relevant.
>
>**************************************************************************
>*******************************
>
>Proposal:   the reservoir for the Marburg and Ebola Reston viruses might
>not
>be  in a living being but in a clay, shale or petrified wood deposit.
>
>--MORE--

That is a very interesting idea.

I agree that DNA and RNA can remain intact for a long time in clay or shale, 
unfortunately proteins and plasma membranes do not.  Therefore, although Ebola 
RNA could be embedded in clay, an intact viral partical could not, and Ebola 
RNA is just another bunch of nucleotides without the rest of the viral 
particle to get it into a host.

Having said that, the thinking here is very good.  Conventional thoughts about 
how Ebola works and where it lives have turned up very little.  A little 
unconvetional thinking could go a long way.

		Charles Hale
		Biochem/USC School of Medicine
		chale at hsc.usc.edu

		"But that's my opinion,
		 I could be wrong."