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Zika Virus and Birth Defects

posted by martyb on Tuesday March 29 2016, @02:48AM   Printer-friendly
from the no-laughing-matter dept.

An Anonymous Coward writes:

The Zika virus has been known for quite some time, but it gained notoriety recently due to its possible linkage to birth defects.

Science News has a summary report on Zika virus:
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/special-report-heres-what-we-know-about-zika

A report on the studies of its possible linkage to microcephaly, a birth defect of babies with undersized and underdeveloped brains:
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/how-zika-became-prime-suspect-microcephaly-mystery

In short, studies are continuing, evidence is mounting, but still not quite a confirmation.

Original Submission

 
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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 29 2016, @05:00AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 29 2016, @05:00AM (#324233)
    In biology, there always exist other possible explanations.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 29 2016, @05:17AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 29 2016, @05:17AM (#324237)

    As a group, biologists don't seem to put much effort into figuring out the consequences of their theories or designing studies to rule out as many explanations as possible. That is probably why.

  • (Score: 2) by deimtee on Tuesday March 29 2016, @10:49AM

    by deimtee (3272) on Tuesday March 29 2016, @10:49AM (#324307) Journal

    "Under the most carefully controlled conditions of light, temperature, humidity, pressure, and nutrient concentrations, the organism will do whatever it damn well pleases."
      - every biologist ever.

    --
    If you cough while drinking cheap red wine it really cleans out your sinuses.

    • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 29 2016, @11:03AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 29 2016, @11:03AM (#324312)

      That is just because hey are bad at their jobs. My experience was very similar to this:

      For example, there have been many experiments running rats through all kinds of mazes, and so on—with little clear result. But in 1937 a man named Young did a very interesting one...He finally found that they could tell by the way the floor sounded when they ran over it...That is the experiment that makes rat‑running experiments sensible, because it uncovers the clues that the rat is really using—not what you think it’s using. And that is the experiment that tells exactly what conditions you have to use in order to be careful and control everything in an experiment with rat‑running...he subsequent experiment, and the one after that, never referred to Mr. Young. They never used any of his criteria of putting the corridor on sand, or being very careful. They just went right on running rats in the same old way, and paid no attention to the great discoveries of Mr. Young

      http://calteches.library.caltech.edu/51/2/CargoCult.htm [caltech.edu]

      People in these areas do NOT want to do the necessary work, they prefer to come up with excuses about how it is all "so complicated".

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 29 2016, @02:45PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 29 2016, @02:45PM (#324385)

        Infectious disease is easier to demonstrate than psychology studies.