Perhaps we are fortunate to have nature over time destroy the most deadly flu virus known to man otherwise known as the 1918 Spanish flu virus. But as persistent as we are as humans, we have found a way to resurrect it from the dead (literally) and mix it with other such flues as the H5N1 Bird flu and the H1N1 Swine flu. When you take a moment to think about this, the phrase mad scientist quickly comes to mind.
The 1918 Spanish flu was by far the deadliest flu virus known to man killing an estimated 50,000,000 people. There are only 23 countries that have a population bigger than 50 million to throw some perspective at it. The resurrection from the dead is litoral. Scientist went hunting in preserved tissue samples from World war 1 soldiers to find its DNA and then mixed up a batch from scratch. When you consider the global population of today as compared to 1918, we would be looking at between 100 and 150 million people killed with this round. That cuts the list of 23 countries down to 8.
So the next obvious question is why perform such an experiment that could be classified as a biological weapon? It entirely depends on who you listen to. Listen to group ‘A’ and you will get the feeling that they are looking for medicine. Listen to group ‘B’ and you will think they are just seeing how bad and nasty bad and nasty can get. If you listen to group ‘C’ you will think they are building a biological weapon. If you listen to group ‘D’ you will just think there is no reason at all to make such a nasty cocktail, and they should be working on something more practical like foods more resistant to bad weather that will be soon coming.
The simple fact is in 2008 they were already playing with the H1N1 1918 Spanish flu and mixing it with the H5N1 Bird flu. So there is little doubt they are playing with the H1N1 swine flu by now.
To help better understand what this all is you first should understand what the H and N are all about. The Hemagglutinin gene ‘H’ unlocks the cell to let the virus inside so think of it as a key. There are 16 kinds of ‘H’ genes. The Neuraminidase gene ‘N’ allows the virus to exit the cell so think of it as a knife to cut it loose. There are 9 kinds of ‘N’ genes. Every virus has some combination of these genes hence the designation H and N in the name. The Bird flu is H5 and N1 and the swine flu is H1 and N1, and that is the same as the 1918 Spanish flu.
As the combinations of H1-16 are mixed with N1-9 the ability of the virus to enter our body changes. Some combinations allow entry into only certain cells, while others allow more entry points. The H1N1 1918 flu and the H5N1 bird flu attack deep in the lungs and that is a very deadly place. Most flu viruses attack the upper respiratory system so they are more easily dealt with, with the exception of people who have compromised immune systems like smokers or being HIV positive or simply overworked and tired.
So now that you have some understanding of how viruses work, we still do not have a valid reason to resurrect from the dead the 1918 H1N1 Spanish flu virus. Certainly they could have used something not as deadly with the same H1N1 combination. Perhaps there is a reason why it is not here naturally the same as the dinosaurs. We can certainly picture a different global population of humans with humans not being the top of the food chain. Anyone who has seen the movie “Jurassic Park” can attest to that. A simple translation, it seems to coexist with the 1918 flu is not truly possible.
So this leaves us to wonder and with good reason why we are bringing back to life some things that are better off dead. Nature saw fit to end their romp on the planet and we already have such a wonderful track record when it comes to messing with nature, one can not help but wonder if this is a form of Russian Roulette with all chambers of the gun loaded, or just a huge Darwin award.
