Infect. Evolve. Go back to school.
December 10th, 2006
MINDistortion.net have produced neat-o science fun action in the form of Infect.Evolve.Repeat, a Flash game which puts you in the seat of Intelligent Design’s mystic Designer, choosing how to modify your virus to make it more successful. Will you increase latency, reproductive rate? Or perhaps build immunity to antibiotics?
Wait a second, immunity to antibiotics? For a virus? Can’t see the benefit of that myself, but I guess the Designer moves in mysterious ways.
Entry Filed under: General
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2 Comments Add your own
1. coracle | December 11th, 2006 at 2:50 pm
I’ve always thought that ‘Antibiotic’ is something of a misnomer. Realy, it should be antibacterial or antifungal. If viruses are accepted as being alive for the sake of argument, then a drug that interferes with its life could be an antibiotic. Similarly, HCN could be considered an antibiotic if the translation is taken literally, against life.
In the same way, chemotherapy is a misnomer. Any drug given with the aim of alleviating disease is a chemotherapeutic intervention. Yet the term has been taken to mean only drug intervention for cancer.
How about resistance to star anise derivatives instead?
2. Adam | December 21st, 2006 at 11:36 am
Etymologically, yes. But things that kill things more generally get called biocides, and “antibacterial” is already used for a different class of substances. “Chemotherapy” is legitimately used in contrast to radiotherapy or physiotherapy or surgery or whatever.
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