Lounge of Tomorrow

Lounge of Tomorrow (http://74.208.121.111/LoT/index.php)
-   Daily Grind (http://74.208.121.111/LoT/forumdisplay.php?f=18)
-   -   Do You Believe? (http://74.208.121.111/LoT/showthread.php?t=8352)

Alex 08-07-2008 09:40 AM

Cross species infection would be pretty unlikely. Even among co-evolved Earth species cross transmission of disease is rare.

They might be toxic in other way, but I wouldn't be much worried about catching a cold from them.

innerSpaceman 08-07-2008 09:49 AM

Alien-bird flu?

Ghoulish Delight 08-07-2008 09:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alex (Post 230625)
Cross species infection would be pretty unlikely. Even among co-evolved Earth species cross transmission of disease is rare.

Well duh, that's BECAUSE we co-evolved. We've developed resistance to the strains of viruses that affect other species on our planet. But ALIEN viruses? No protection there.

Alex 08-07-2008 09:54 AM

And alien viruses would be unlikely to know what to do with our biology to even cause a problem.

And the reason cross species infection is rare is not because of resistance (if that were true then we wouldn't catch diseases from other people either) but because diseases are usually evolved to very specific triggers that change across species. We have no protection against bird flu, it just generally doesn't do damage to us in its common form. It is only once it has mutated into a rare form that can infect both birds and humans that it becomes dangerous.


All times are GMT -7. The time now is 08:53 AM.

Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.6.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2025, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.