SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
The Sunday Times reports that scientists have found a virus that appears to infect human brains, reducing people’s thinking power including their spatial awareness and attention span (paywalled). The virus, ATCV-1, seems to alter genes governing brain function. “Unexpectedly, we identified DNA sequences of ATCV-1, an algal virus not previously known to infect humans, in oropharyngeal [throat] samples from healthy adults,” said the researchers. “ATCV-1 was associated with a modest but measurable decrease in cognitive functioning.” By using modern bioinformatics analysis, the genes effected were found to be involved in pathways related to dopamine receptor signaling, cyclin-dependent kinase 5 (CDK5) signaling, antigen presentation, immune cell adhesion, and eukaryotic initiation factor 2. Note that dopamine is a central component of many psychiatric conditions."
(Score: 2) by mendax on Tuesday November 11 2014, @10:32PM
I think this virus has been in the wild in Italy for a long time. The idiots in the court that convicted those Italian scientists in the first place are definitely affected by it. But so are the scientists. They should have known that making such a prediction could have led to this nonsense in the first place.
It's really quite a simple choice: Life, Death, or Los Angeles.
(Score: 2) by arslan on Tuesday November 11 2014, @11:32PM
well and the cure too.. since their appeals court acquitted them.. so not all bad... Here is oz we are seeing a rapid spread of this virus as our politicians are stepping up their effort to "Americanize" us with the American Dream. The new one, not the one from yester years, where we are increasingly spied on, our liberty slowly eroded, the police militarized, the news networks used as propaganda platforms and our land and jobs being "globalized".