I heard about this a few weeks ago, but didn't run across the article until this morning.
I'm not sure how I feel about this. I guess I've read too many science fiction stories about a good virus gone bad and taking down a significant portion of humanity :-) As unlikely as the scenarios are, I read a couple of good sci-fi books with this as the primary plot. The first was a story called "The Return" about a spaceship crew that returns after a 10 year voyage to find the Earth back to the stone age and eventually finding out that an additive similar to fluoride, was added to food and water and made pregnancy almost impossible, decimating the population. I also read a story, but can't remember the name, about an enzyme that was created to remove toxic paper pulp waste, that mutated and attacked live trees. Of course the result was the extinction of life on Earth because all plant life died. Millions of years later, an alien exploratory vessel found a base on our moon that contained hundreds of frozen zygotes. Gary + + + + article + + + + FDA approves viruses as food additive Bacteriophages meant to kill harmful bacteria on lunch meats WASHINGTON (AP) -- A mix of bacteria-killing viruses can be safely sprayed on cold cuts, hot dogs and sausages to combat common microbes that kill hundreds of people a year, federal health officials said Friday in granting the first-ever approval of viruses as a food additive. The combination of six viruses is designed to be sprayed on ready-to-eat meat and poultry products, including sliced ham and turkey,....... Complete article..... http://tinyurl.com/olo77 http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/08/18/edible.virus.ap/index.html _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
