Re: [asa] Researchers say melting glaciers might release ancient flu viruses

Seems that some have not taken Augustine's warning too seriously. For
those scientists and Christians interested in this story, I suggest
the following research article and determine what the researchers
found. And then you can 'judge for yourself'...

  Gang Zhang, Dany Shoham, David Gilichinsky, Sergei Davydov, John D.
Castello, and Scott O. Rogers Evidence of Influenza A Virus RNA in
Siberian Lake Ice J. Virol. 2006 80: 12229-12235. [Abstract]
[Full Text] [PDF]

Influenza A virus infects a large proportion of the human population
annually, sometimes leading to the deaths of millions. The biotic
cycles of infection are well characterized in the literature,
including in studies of populations of humans, poultry, swine, and
migratory waterfowl. However, there are few studies of abiotic
reservoirs for this virus. Here, we report the preservation of
influenza A virus genes in ice and water from high-latitude lakes
that are visited by large numbers of migratory birds. The lakes are
along the migratory flight paths of birds flying into Asia, North
America, Europe, and Africa. The data suggest that influenza A virus,
deposited as the birds begin their autumn migration, can be preserved
in lake ice. As birds return in the spring, the ice melts, releasing
the viruses. Therefore, temporal gene flow is facilitated between the
viruses shed during the previous year and the viruses newly acquired
by birds during winter months spent in the south. Above the Arctic
Circle, the cycles of entrapment in the ice and release by melting
can be variable in length, because some ice persists for several
years, decades, or longer. This type of temporal gene flow might be a
feature common to viruses that can survive entrapment in
environmental ice and snow.

On Nov 29, 2006, at 10:13 AM, Janice Matchett wrote:

>
>
> Falling into the "What can we do to scare the pants off the idiots
> again today", category, we have this offering:
>
> Researchers say melting glaciers might release ancient flu viruses
> November 29, 2006 | Jason Gale
> http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1745845/posts
>
> ~ Janice .... quoting H. L. Mencken:
>
> "The demagogue is one who preaches doctrines he knows to be untrue
> to men he knows to be idiots."
>
> "The urge to save humanity is nearly always a cover for the urge to
> rule."
>
> "The whole aim of practical [p------s] is to keep the populace
> alarmed - and hence clamorous to be led to safety - by menacing it
> with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary."
>

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Received on Wed Nov 29 13:48:14 2006