Comments on: How a zombie virus became a big biotech business

By: Zombie Research « jessicaalliejohnson

Zombie Research « jessicaalliejohnson — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 15:04:58 +0000

[...] o How a zombie virus became a big biotech business [...]

By: All about information from internet » Post Topic » Gigantic virus discovery rivets scientists

Thu, 13 Oct 2011 00:55:25 +0000

[...] are many weird viruses on this planet, though nothing weirder-in a essentially critical way-than a organisation famous as [...]

By: Genetics of the body snatchers! | The Why Files

Genetics of the body snatchers! | The Why Files — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 20:25:24 +0000

[...] ↩ Alien profile (for kids!) ↩Gypsy moth fact sheets, regulation and management. ↩Zombie viruses. ↩Zombie ants. ↩Podcast: Toxoplasmosis and rat behavior. ↩Toxoplasmosis and human [...]

By: Damn Nature You Scary « RomeroBrooks

Damn Nature You Scary « RomeroBrooks — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 21:01:31 +0000

[...] Via: Discover Magazine [...]

By: Bill Tyne

Bill Tyne — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 15:22:59 +0000

The current research on baculoviral chitinase (one of the two enzymes involved in liquefaction of the host, the other being cathepsin) is inconclusive with regards to its origins. While early studies focussed on the similarity of baculovirual chitinase to the chitinase of the bacteria S. marsecens the use of phylogenetic analysis has proved inconclusive. The enzyme is not, however related to the eukaryotic chitinase found in the insect host. There is a very similar version of chitinase found in some lepidoptera that is usually abbreviated chi-h. Chi-h appears to be prokaryotic in nature (no intronic sequence just promoter and a single reading frame).
The paralysis induced by some engineered viruses was a deliberate modification to prevent the host from continuing to feed during the period post infection until it died (the gene for scorpion toxin was introduced into the viral genome). The reson for this was simply that the virus took a period of days to kill the host, during which time it would continue to damage crops unless immobilised. The research into scorptox ceased due to adverse publicity, this being around the height of the GM scare stories that were prevelant across the UK.

By: Brandon Seifert

Brandon Seifert — Sat, 28 May 2011 02:09:23 +0000

God, that’s amazing! I’m kicking myself for not having heard about this either — but it makes me feel better that you hadn’t heard about it, since “Parasite Rex” was where I started my research into parasitology.

Some of the details in there are wonderful. A viral infection that makes its host bloat up from the shear load of viruses inside? That’s amazing. The enzyme dissolving the host’s body reminds me a little of the ant-decapitating fly larvae dissolving the membrane that hold its host’s head on, but that’s mostly just free-association.

Thank you for posting about this!

- Brandon

By: Daniel J. Andrews

Daniel J. Andrews — Wed, 25 May 2011 20:58:56 +0000

I finished your new virus book and my only complaint is that it is far too short and doesn’t delve indepth into so many of the fascinating stories and people that must lie behind the discoveries. I can imagine you’d easily be able to triple the size of the book even if you didn’t include all the new things being discovered (which I hope you do anyway so quadruple the size of the book). If you decide to do an indepth look at the viruses and the people doing the research, I’d buy that one too.

By: hexatron

hexatron — Wed, 25 May 2011 12:26:31 +0000

Making a caterpillar dissolve is probably a pretty simple genetic trick. Caterpillars dissolve themselves in the normal course of turning into butterflies.

By: Matera the Mad

Matera the Mad — Wed, 25 May 2011 11:01:31 +0000

Politicians. Corporations.

By: Anna

Anna — Tue, 24 May 2011 10:05:08 +0000

I love this post! May I write about this in my blog, if I give the link to this site and refer to your work? It is still new so I have not pinpointed my themes yet but my longing is to write about science as if it was spiritual (cause it is to me), to confer a sense of wonder that we are alive here on this fantastic planet. Perhaps I should emphasize that I am not into intelligent design or creationism, on the contrary.
I would like to write about how we have become virus-farmers in order to decrease the use of pesticides and refer to your text, I will not copy it but I would like to use the image of the catepillar if that is ok? Perhaps you are using it with kind permission from another person. Otherwise I can google for more.

Best wishes
Anna

[CZ: Anna, you can go to the Flickr page for the image and use the image under the Creative Commons license described there.]

By: Madhusudan

Madhusudan — Mon, 23 May 2011 20:20:23 +0000

Fantastic story – and I’m glad to have played a small part in bringing you to Fresno so you could hear of this from Fred!

By: Scott Sigler

Scott Sigler — Mon, 23 May 2011 19:57:53 +0000

Another fantastic find. The fact that the virus makes the host -dissolve-? That’s crazy-talk. Sounds like there is a good fiction novel in this, somewhere …