Cod Enzyme Kills Bird Flu 206
Jon Golden writes "An Icelandic cod enzyme might be the cure for bird flu. A recent experiment, which the Icelandic company Ensímtaekni hf. took part in, indicates that in five minutes, the isolated fish enzyme killed 99 percent of H5N1 viruses.
The killer enzyme, called penzim, was extracted from the intestines of cod by Ensímtaekni and is currently being developed for beauty products and various types of medicine. The experiment on the H5N1 virus was conducted in London.
CEO of Ensímtaekni and biochemist Jón Bragi Bjarnason said he is very excited about the results of the bird flu experiment.
"People have feared that the bird flu virus will change into a human flu virus and now we have a likely cure in case that happens."
Bjarnason also believes that penzim might prove a cure for common flu and cold, eczema in children and arthritis."
Cure? (Score:5, Insightful)
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Re:Cure? (Score:5, Interesting)
As a wild assed guess, it is so successful in the first place because it is probably some fairly potent and fairly non selective protease. The fact that it kills viruses in a test tube means almost nothing. For this to be effective as a drug it must be able to kill these viruses in a living organism and it must do so while producing minimal damage to said living organism.
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Just because it's not c
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It can only be contracted from handling the guts of dead infected birds. There are no other known infection vectors to date (and an infected human cannot transmit it).
Yeah, the media don't usually mention that part. There is no current bird flu threat, only a bunch of fuss about the possibility of one in the future.
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And of course if it does mutate we'll be back to square one.. because then it'll be a new kind of virus not the one we have now.
I'd laugh my ass off if the millions spent by governments stockpiling 'bird flu vaccine' turned out to be completely wasted.
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Wild cats are fussy about what they eat, like many other large wild animals. Many domesticated ones never had a reason to learn not to eat intestines, because they've been fed from a tin all their life. Don't use their behaviour as a guideline.
Seagulls just do
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Re:Cure? (Score:5, Informative)
If proven effective in the real world then it is still a cure, saying otherwise is like saying "Why bother trying to cure the disease, everyone is going to die someday".
Re:Cure? (Score:4, Insightful)
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This enzyme is being toutes as a "cure" in the sense that it can eliminate bird flue in those already infected by it by acting directly on
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However, if this is as effective as it sounds, it might be enough to end the strain entirely. Our immune systems are easily strong enough to win if you knock out 90% of the virus. It is unlikely that you'd be contagious with the 10% that your immune system has to kill on its own. Combining reasonably effective vaccines with hi
Re:Cure? (Score:5, Funny)
Well, a 1-in-10 dilution of chlorine-based household bleach will kill 100% of the germs. But what's good for treating biohazard might not be good for treating children.
I know it's Troll Wednesday, but what the hell...
Re:Cure? (Score:4, Funny)
Actually there is a medical tool that can do nearly as well as the bleach solution without killing the patient. Specifically if you take a 910nm YAG pulsed 1/10,000 sec 10 times per sec at about 250 watts for a duration of about 30 seconds and applied locally to the site of the infection, very nearly any virus or bacteria known and even some other agents can be blasted into oblivion while assisting the life processes of the human tissues surrounding.
No this isn't an American technology. No it isn't fiction or fantasy. The process has been tested against even HIV and Hep C. It works. The WOW that it is applies to a wide range of medical problems. The specific process is known as cold lasers in sports medicine. Yes you could have the flu and be treated in a few seconds without drug side effects. I personally have seen this technology resolve a MRSA cyst about 1/2 the size of a large egg over night. The amount of treatment time was 30 seconds. The cyst was in an 82yo female who had acquired this post surgical and it was treated unsuccessfully with 30 day of intense IV medication including Vancomycin and other meds.
This works by driving the life function of the human cells directly by photosynthetic process. It would appear that the process also overdrives the material in the infectious agents. Thus the process causes health in 2 ways. It will remove edema (swelling) in a few seconds. It causes very fast healing. It relieves most pain issues in seconds of at most over a course of 3 or 4 treatments a few hours apart. It is so effective it should be required as a post-op treatment for patients. It is a treatment that is so effective it can literally stop the flu or even destroy deep in tissue infections like those hard to treat sinus infections with nearly instant effect. As such the Bird Flu and any other flu epidemic should be a few laser pulses from oblivion.
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Photobiomodulation, according to Wikipedia, sounds like what you're talking about, but the article is relativley lacking in sources, and only boasts that "Certain wavelengths of light at certain intensities (delivered by laser, LED or another monochromatic source) will aid tissue regeneration, resolve inflammation, relieve pain and boost the immune system."
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No, it's the first emergence of an unknown virus that is
Re:Cure? (Score:5, Insightful)
There is an infectious threshold that a contagion needs to pass before it can spread through a population as an epidemic. If used properly, a drug that is 99% effective can nip it in the bud before the epidemic stage provides an opportunity for widspread replication and the chances for mutation.. If it doesn't reproduce much in the wild, it doesn't get a whole lot of opportunity to mutate into something dangerous. Used incorrectly, or abused in obviously stupid ways to serve other ends, be it political or otherwise, resistance *will* be a problem in the future.
The problem of non-human hosts (birds, obviously, but also swines), however, complicates the picture a bit. Using drugs to treat human cases goes a long way toward keeping an epidemic in check. This is especially true considering how mobile we are in this day and age. The agriculture industry has also had mixed success in keeping domestic livestock safe. But what worries a lot of experts are migratory wild birds. They are the one variable we have almost no control over.
On a slightly different note, the flu seems to be giving up a lot of its secrets. There is a timely article [yahoo.com] from reuters via Yahoo that highlights some new (?maybe old but uncirculated in the mainstream press?) information researchers have uncovered about the 1918 flu and the similarities to H5N1.
As such, maybe this drug, if developed and used properly, is enough to deal with the problem. Kill 99% with the drug. Let the immune system, unmolested and unprovoked, deal with the remaining 1%.Re: (Score:2)
Seriously, there's nothing that something left in that 10% wouldn't turn into a pandemic later. Plus, a vaccine doesn't mean that you WON'T get the thing it vaccinates you for, it just means your chances of getting it are much, much lower. There hasn't been a case of polio in the US since 1979 (caused by the natural virus, that is, n
Not an issue. (Score:2)
The governments across Europe will do what any normal person would do when faced with the choice of
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Used properly, a person is more or less isolated, to try and prevent the spread of infection. While the enzyme itself may only kill 90% (Actually, I think it was 99%) of the virii, the idea is that the person's body will take care of the remaining (cod-enzyme-resistant) virii.
steve
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A 20 megaton warhead should do the trick.
Heck, even plain bleach if you can't afford the uranium.
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Yes, many things. A common candle flame, for example, will kill all carbon-based lifeforms that are immersed in it for long enough. The problem is that you are a carbon-based lifeform.
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Cool. That means I already own a Wii and a PS3 and all the games for it.
I just need to work out where God has hidden it.
As lucrative as this might turn out to be (Score:2)
Today is a good day, cured bird flu and cancer all in one day. Alzhiemer's is near a cure, and there are more discoveries every day it seems. I think we need a cure for religion, or rather for militant religious zealotry.
No, my comment is not off topic or troll, militant religious zealotry is quickly becoming the last disease to cure!
Act of Cod? (Score:5, Funny)
ineed! (Score:3, Funny)
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Yes, but... (Score:3, Funny)
That's all great, but I've been using Dr. Wurster's Miracle Decoction for 70 years. I'll be darned if I'll switch unless it also cures migraines and decapitation, at least.
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I'm sure that low-dose cocaine would make anyone feel well for a little while.
But since you've been using it for 70 years, it must not be that effective at curing the problem...
oh good (Score:1, Insightful)
yay, it left the ones that are immune so they can spread instead. Just give em some zinc and echinacea and chicken soup lol.
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WTF??? (Score:3, Insightful)
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Though I wouldn't go out and wolf down covergirl if you get the sniffles.
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The amazing Cod (Score:5, Funny)
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Cod works in mysterious ways? (Score:2)
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A few interesting things about the bird flu (Score:4, Interesting)
There are at least a dozen _known_ diseases that will just as gleefully sicken or even kill the human animal.
Why we're so upset about the bird flu and what makes it special, I don't know, except of course that the entire
subject is pushed into our faces and through our ears nonstop through the media. (Just to forestall some
comments: The rabies virus could mutate too and become airborne for all we know. Gnade uns Gott should that ever
happen).
One thing that is however noteworthy about the bird flu (wohoo!) is that "Tamiflu" the experimental drug that is
supposed to alleviate its symptoms was developed by Gilead Sciences, the company Donald Rumsfeld was Chairman
of the Board of during 1997 until being sworn in as Secretary of Defense in 2001. Another noteworthy thing is
that the United States Government has purchased and stockpiled large amounts of this largely unproven medication
and guess who still owns stock in Gilead? (La Rouche pharmaceuticals produces the drug but it pays royalties to
Gilead).
Re:A few interesting things about the bird flu (Score:5, Insightful)
That's a pretty fucking awful example to pick.
It is bloody unlikely that rabies will mutate into an airborne virus anytime soon. It would essentially have to become a completely different virus.
Influenza, on the other hand, is known for it's amazing mutational and recombinational "ability".
Rabies is not known for causing great pandemics associated producing very substantial mortality.
Influenza, on the other hand, is known for causing great pandemics producing very substantial mortality.
Rabies does not truly have the potential to create massive epidemics in livestock animals which may serve as a reservoirs from whence a human disease outbreak may start.
Avian influenza, on the other hand, does.
Rabies does not truly have the potential to create massive epidemics in wild animals which may serve as widespread infectious sources for domestic animals and as a reservoir from whence a human disease outbreak may start.
Avian influenza, on the other hand, does.
Animal infected by rabies are very rarely (if ever) the types to engage in the sorts of great migrations which may sometimes literally span the globe.
Animals infected by avian influenza, on the other hand, sometimes are.
I could probably go on (or maybe not --but I'm not about to try).
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Ebola virus or the lesser known Marburg virus would be better candidates. But then you might
also note that Rabies has claimed to our knowledge more human lives than the bird flu.
Another fact is, virii and other pathogens have been out and about for a Very-Long-Time and the bird
flu didn't just appear yesterday. In other words, it had plenty of opportunity for
thousands of years to kill us - just like the thousands
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portion of the world's population and still it is getting watts of media attention.
An asteroid impact by the way is just as likely and will prove probably far deadlier to
all species on the planet.
A little less likely than the asteroid scenario but still a possibility would be a
gamma ray burst caused by some calamity of sorts like a supernova in our nearer
interstellar neighborhood. Mighty bird flu might survive that, thou
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That's complete bunk. Please at least do some rudimentary analysis before spouting off.
An asteroid like the one that killed off the dinosaurs might hit every 50,000,000 years, so your lifetime risk of being killed by that is around 2 in 1 million. Far more likely is a smallish asteroid that hits an ocean and causes a tsunami that wipes out several coastal cities, maybe killing 1% of the worl
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I would personally be happier if people _also_ came up with something workable vs the asteroid/comet problem, but most people don't seem interested anyway.
There's nothing much we can do about the gamma ray problem.
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Flu is newsworthy because it's killed before (Score:4, Informative)
One reason epidemiologists are especially concerned about avian flu because flu pandemics have killed tens of millions of people before [wikipedia.org]. This was in 1918 when the public health system was less developed, but population densities and the mobility of the human population are much greater today.
Another respondent has already detailed the other reasons why an avian flu is logistically more threatening. Your political/conspiracy theory may be completely true and valid, but the fact remains that people are concerned about the flu rather than ebola or airborne rabies because it's the disease that has been observed to kill in great numbers in the recent, documented past.
The fact that Donald Rumsfeld might be profiteering from the hype [globalresearch.ca] does not mean that avian flu is not a real threat.
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Influenza variations concern the CDC more than any other disease vector.
FYI.
C//
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I really have not seen much attention given to this disease since last year, so I don't know what your trouble is in saying it's being pushed "nonstop".
I didn't know that about Tamiflu, but I thought that many governments were stockpiling it, not that it would make any difference.
There are plenty of diseases out there though.
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I'm not sure why this is "interesting". The reason there is
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because something very similar happened back in 1918. the "spanish flu" epidemic was actually an avian flu that came from china which mutated into a human-to-human transmissable form.
combine a similarly deadly virus with modern transportation and our higher population density, and we would have one hell of a mess on our hands.
it has happened before, so it is completely probable that it can happen again.
while i do think the tamifl
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Anyway I'm reluctant to trust inside pharmaceutical news from someone who thinks the drug is made by "La Rouche pharmaceuticals" -- that's like referring to "McDonaldsoft Windows".
Smells fishy... (Score:2, Insightful)
It is highly unlikely that any enzyme can be developed into any useful cure for a virus infection, for pharmacokinetics, transport and stability issues alone.
It is not difficult to kill anything. The same amount of bleach would kill reliably 100% of the virus in the test tube.
The problem is to develop a substance which is selective, has acceptable side-effects and actually reaches the target when the virus has embedded itself in the cells, which is not easy.
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This May Bring Back The Old Cure-All (Score:4, Insightful)
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EXACTLY!!
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1. Helps with joints. Rich in Omega3 oils.
2. Helps with memory and other brain function, including mental illness. another feature of Omega3 oils
3. Helps with cardiovascular health. yet another feature of Omega3 oils
3. Contains vitamin D, helps with bones.
Either that or eat fish 2-3 times per week. I'm not a big fish fan myself but look at the Japanese or Mediterranean diets, high in fish. The longest lived people are the Okinawans, lots of fish,
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Re:This May Bring Back The Old Cure-All (Score:4, Interesting)
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Beautiful (Score:4, Interesting)
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Sweet hype (Score:2)
I hope they also cure SARS, maybe with some kind of halibut mucus.
finally, a panacea! (Score:1)
</sarcasm>
Birds/Fish (Score:5, Funny)
Give the ability to fight off bird flu to an animal most unlikely to encounter a bird.
Lucky fishes..
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Well that explains it (Score:5, Funny)
Stop the presses! (Score:2, Insightful)
Lilly the Pink (Score:2)
Let's drink, a drink, a drink,
to Lilly the Pink, the pink, the pink,
The saviour of the human race.
For she invented,
Medicinal compound,
which saved the world of misery.
Killing Ourselves to Death (Score:2)
Oh, wait, we've overfished cod into near extinction [google.com] already, before we've even started grinding them up for birdflu shots.
Can it cure E.D. too? (Score:2, Interesting)
I'd like to see what this ass-grease (I mean, intestinal enzyme) does when it's actually injected into someone. Until then, I refuse to get excited about something that's less effective than Clorox.
Isn't cod already overfished? (Score:2)
Poor cod. It's already overfished [wikipedia.org] by the fishing industry, and if the pharmaceuticals decide to start catching it too, it will get extinct as quick as you can count 1, 2, 3.
We need more aquacultures in the short term and better biogenetic technology in the long term. Some day we may eat cloned food we grow in the laboratory, and let nature alone to recover.
Sounded great until .... (Score:2)
Admittedly I was sold because I would think charlatins would not have access to H5N1. But once it started into the elixir cure-all pitch my bull shit bell went off.
Not surprising (Score:2)
From Cod? (Score:2)
A Real Time Saver (Score:2)
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Viruses (Score:3, Funny)
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Sigh..., what we know about Bird Flu includes: 1. When it does infect humans it has a very high mortality rate (about 80% IIRC) 2. It's an influenza virus with a well documented history of mutating and causing massive epidemics So far (2) hasn't happened, but what the risk is very real, feel free to stick your head in the sand and ignore the risk if you