Crypto relevance: absolutely none! Good lord, what nasty reactions! Maybe there's hope for us after all. I'll allow myself one reply. Sorry 'bout the length. < snip re: my bits on targetting specific genetic traits > zinc wrote:
this is so much shit. targetting anything is very difficult. just ask all those people about the wonders of gene therapy. hell, even the economist had an article about it's failures recently (Dec 16-22 1995, p77).
Putting a person on the moon was considered impossible by most folks 50 years ago. The German v-series rockets were cutting edge technology. Now licensed hobbyists can buy solid fuel motors that are just as powerful some of the ones the Nazis had (source: _High Power Rocketry_). Things change.
in any event the so-called 'differences' you are imagining are phenotypes. these are a long cry from DNA. i'm not aware of any genetic markers available to distinguish a black man from a white man. and, even if there were, recombination requires long stretches of homology between DNAs, not small differences. i'd bet it's nearly impossible to target black vs white vs yellow vs a gorilla.
Good. The article I read that suggested the possibility (I'm pretty sure it was in _Science_ or _Scientific American_) was rather spooky. I wish you'd said FLATLY impossible, though. I'm (obviosly) not a biologist/geneticist/whatever, but aren't there bugs that go after only chimps? And didn't that ebola strain in Virginia only go after the lab monkeys, not the people? ...and from Jim Choate:
Malarky.
< snip >
Most of the threat of this type of experiments are from simple infections since viruses are not easily raised with this form of equipment.
People will have access to more and better equipment, though.
One of my favorite 'technology rulers' is when the first strain of commen yeast is released which produces THC or LSD.
Heh. Guess they'll have to post extra guards at the Wonder Bread plant, eh? Woudn't want terrorists dosing little Jimmy's lunch. < interesting stuff snipped >
I do not believe we will see this in the near term using the micro-manipulater systems which do direct injection of genetic material because of the cost and utility requirements of such equipment.
Which will probably become simplified, streamlined, and cheaper. Who knows what techniques will be used 20-50 years from now? Even though (fortunately) it seems that this kind of virus would be much tougher to produce than I thought (if not impossible), I can still see someone trying it and infecting EVERYONE in his neighborhood/city/state. And if it is possible, well, I'd rather have the idea explored and cures developed (with the info available to all) before any would-be Hitler surprised us. Finally, from E. ALLEN SMITH
E. Coli (the workhorse of prokaryotic genetics) can be a pathogen if the right plasmid is inserted.
Incidentally, thanks to the person who quashed the "black-seeking virus" idiot.
Not my idea (I'm not that twisted; I find the idea horrifying). I read the suggestion in either _Science_ or _Scientific American_ (early 1993?). Incidently, the idea was a virus that went after people with specific racial traits, not a "black-seeking virus". Don't attribute me with quotes that aren't mine. I have enough problems with idiots who assume I'm a racist KKK country-music loving redneck simply because I'm from Nashville.
Human races are so far from being proper genetically distinct subspecies that nobody competent would call them that,
Guess what sunshine, they still teach this in mid- and high-schools. Hell, even my dictionary sez "race - 1) a division of the human population distinguished by physical characteristics transmitted by genes." (Webster's II New Riverside Dictionary, if anyone cares)
if they only weren't us.
Huh? Now back to our regularly scheduled crypto (yeah, right). -- || ______ || comments, criticisms, and/or death-threats may be sent to: || || \__ /\ || jonny anonymous, c/o jonnyx@edge.net || || __/ / \ || or snail-mail pobox 23001, nashvegas tn 37202-3001, usa || || \__/_/\_\ ||______"DRIVING DRUNK ON THE INFORMATION SUPERHIGHWAY!"______||