Seanan McGuire (seanan_mcguire) wrote,
Seanan McGuire
seanan_mcguire
  • Mood: dubious
  • Music: Garden Verge, 'Shadow of a Habit.'

In other news, plague.

Researchers have found out what made the 1918 flu pandemic so deadly. Because that's always a good idea. Basically, there's a three-gene sequence which tells the virus go 'you know what? The upper respiratory tract is dull. Let's go have a party in the lungs!' This leads to pneumonia, which leads to death. And since it's viral pneumonia, rather than bacterial pneumonia, it's both droplet-based and unperturbed by silly little things like antibiotics. Whee!

To quote the article: "The three genes -- called PA, PB1, and PB2 -- along with a 1918 version of the nucleoprotein or NP gene, made modern seasonal flu kill ferrets in much the same way as the original 1918 flu, Kawaoka's team found." Now. Maybe I'm being a little silly here, but does building a better flu really sound like a good idea? To anybody? I've read The Stand. I don't feel like moving to Colorado. I love pandemics in history and in theory, but I'd really rather not have 'They Fucked Around With Flu' stamped on mankind's collective tombstone.

In other news, small boys still hold firecrackers in their bare hands, because maybe this time, it's going to go differently.
Tags: mad science, pandemic time
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  • 52 comments
...go 1 level up... Expand

seanan_mcguire

January 8 2009, 15:27:43 UTC 8 years ago

I do my re-read of The Stand in February, because that month always makes me sad, and Stephen King helps with that.

ink_books_punk

January 8 2009, 15:31:35 UTC 8 years ago

In Feb I have both Logan's and Kermit's birthdays, so I can't be sad then. Jan gives me a week where the shiny happy kid's in school and I'm not, so I can sit alone on the couch and read while the bare trees move against the grey sky outside my windows, and not have to worry that Logan will suddenly run in from the other room and freak me out. :)

seanan_mcguire

January 8 2009, 15:33:15 UTC 8 years ago

Here in California, everything turns gray gray gray gray for weeks. Also, for a long time, if something bad was going to happen to me (like catching pneumonia), it would happen in February.

ink_books_punk

January 8 2009, 15:37:52 UTC 8 years ago

You know, ever since I moved, people have been saying "Here in California" ... I haven't even been gone 6 months. :)

I'm interested to see what the real winter looks like, once the end of Jan/Feb snow season begins. We've had some sharp, pointy snow flakes (I didn't know that snow could poke you before) for an hour or so at a time, and Logan got to play in his first snowfall right after Thanksgiving, but that was only about 2 inches and it melted the next day. I'm wondering if prodigious snowfall will affect my reading/writing at all.

seanan_mcguire

January 8 2009, 15:46:59 UTC 8 years ago

Given that California weather can vary within a quarter-mile radius, I just don't assume anyone's weather matches mine unless they live in my home town.

ink_books_punk

January 8 2009, 15:54:49 UTC 8 years ago

When you lived out in NJ, where were you?

seanan_mcguire

January 8 2009, 15:58:14 UTC 8 years ago

Jersey City.