Sad to see that science is continuing to create super-virulent viruses, especially ni an age where they have become so especially feared:
excerpt:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/3301159.stm
excerpt:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/3301159.stm
A virulent form of tuberculosis was created in the laboratory by experts trying to alter its genetic structure.
The mutant form of the bug multiplied more quickly, and was more lethal than its natural counterpart.
Researchers from the University of California at Berkeley, US, had actually been trying to disable genes and make the bacterium less deadly.
"This is one of the very few hyper-virulent organisms ever created," said scientist Dr Lisa Morici.
Tuberculosis is one of the world's biggest killers, and scientists are probing its genetic structure in a bid to find weaknesses that might be exploited by new treatments. The Berkeley study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, concentrated on a particular collection of genes thought to give TB some of its virulence - its ability to infect.