Good God, didn't any of you see the most recent adaptation of I Am Legend? Curing disease in unusual, even ingenious ways is the surest bet to bring about the zombiepocalypse!
@AldoraGreel: I’m cringing over being so nit-picky but the science geek in me can't help it. The actual research really isn’t about using mosquitoes for vaccine delivery, it’s about using the actual parasites to develop a vaccine. Most likely any vaccines arising from this research wouldn’t use a insect vector.
@RandomFrequentFlierDent: Thank god someone actually gets it. I was getting worried I'd see nothing but "but is sticking vaccines into mosquito safe?" in the entire comments section.
For pete's sake, people, actually read the damn articles.
And I don't think there is an ethical problem here. The people you'd be distributing these anti-malaria drugs to are already in a position to get infected- that's the whole point. By distributing the drugs, you'd give them an opportunity to develop natural immunity. You can take them off the drugs when bloodtests reveal natural malaria anti-bodies.
I think the study itself focuses less on the idea of using insects as a vector for vaccine distribution and more on the idea that as with viral and bacterial vaccines, the organism causing the illness can also be used to produce the vaccine.
edit*Re-reading your story, I see that you mention that. It's kind of weird how both articles have fairly misleading titles.
@RandomFrequentFlierDent: Yeah. I mean, it really proved the concept that people in areas should be prophilactically treated while they are there and exposed.
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Awesome. I'm all for it!
07/31/09
I mean, unless you work for a news outlet looking to report complicated issues as half truths in 90 seconds.
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"Oh, well, some of the bugs will kill you. Some will vaccinate you. Let all bugs bite you. Hope the vaccination kind get to you first."
"How will we know?"
"You won't. Just trust us. Science!"
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Again, the title is a little misleading.
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For pete's sake, people, actually read the damn articles.
And I don't think there is an ethical problem here. The people you'd be distributing these anti-malaria drugs to are already in a position to get infected- that's the whole point. By distributing the drugs, you'd give them an opportunity to develop natural immunity. You can take them off the drugs when bloodtests reveal natural malaria anti-bodies.
07/31/09
edit*Re-reading your story, I see that you mention that. It's kind of weird how both articles have fairly misleading titles.
07/31/09