The Very Intelligent Virus, Sars-Cov-2

This account is remarkable on the one hand, and quite scary on the other.
------------------------------ FOX News, New York

Man had active coronavirus infection for 5 months that mutated several times, researchers say

BOSTON - A 45-year-old man who suffered from a severe autoimmune disorder had an active coronavirus infection that lasted for five months, and the virus mutated several times inside his body before he ultimately passed away.

The case has drawn attention from researchers about COVID-19 in immunocompromised individuals, and the potential role similar scenarios could have played in emerging coronavirus variants.

https://www.fox5ny.com/news/man-had-active-coronavirus-infection-for-5-months-that-mutated-several-times-researchers-say
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That is what humanity is battling, a virus - which is not a living organism,
that appears to be very clever at how to survive. But how is a dead
virus "clever"? and deadly to hosts? Amazing and scary.

@Earl-of-Trumps
https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMc2031364

This is the original study. You will find that most of the words you took offense are missing, so that is what journalists write, not scientists.

In fact the virus is not "intelligent" or cunning" or "evil". You can think of it as a machine that replicates itself. Mutations are occuring by incorrect copy. Of course all of Mutations that lead to the loss of the reproduction ability vanish in generation zero.

There is no brain or consciousness in the Virus, which could "plan" a mutation. And even less which could plan in a meaningful way. (we can't and we have probably a much better understanding of the fundamental principles).

Of course the number of mutations occuring is dependent on time. So if the pateint has been affected 154 days, a lot can happen. The interesting question would be: was anybody infected with those mutations.

@earl-of-trumps said
This account is remarkable on the one hand, and quite scary on the other.
------------------------------ FOX News, New York

Man had active coronavirus infection for 5 months that mutated several times, researchers say

[i]BOSTON - A 45-year-old man who suffered from a severe autoimmune disorder had an active coronavirus infection that lasted for five month ...[text shortened]... lever at how to survive. But how is a dead
virus "clever"? and deadly to hosts? Amazing and scary.

A lack of selenium in the diet makes mutations more likely. A CDC recommendation to get enough selenium in people's diets would save lives and reduce the mutation rate.

Not doing so is incompetence or a conflict of interest and the CDC has conflicts of interest with CDC people owning vaccine patents to profit from the mRNA vaccine. That should be a scandal and the corporate news media is mum on it.

@metal-brain said
A lack of selenium in the diet makes mutations more likely. A CDC recommendation to get enough selenium in people's diets would save lives and reduce the mutation rate.

Not doing so is incompetence or a conflict of interest and the CDC has conflicts of interest with CDC people owning vaccine patents to profit from the mRNA vaccine. That should be a scandal and the corporate news media is mum on it.

Could you please give a scientific source claiming that Selenium in the cell improves the copying mechanism for RNA?

@Ponderable - This is the original study. You will find that most of the words you took offense are missing, so that is what journalists write, not scientists.

No idea what you are talking about - talking offense. I took no offense from the article.

Now, as far as the virus is concerned, I see it like AI (artificial intelligence) where the virus
emulates real living creatures in an attempt to keep the species alive by multiplying.
And for a brainless dead creature, it does an amazing job. That was my only thought there

@earl-of-trumps said
@Ponderable - This is the original study. You will find that most of the words you took offense are missing, so that is what journalists write, not scientists.

No idea what you are talking about - talking offense. I took no offense from the article.

Now, as far as the virus is concerned, I see it like AI (artificial intelligence) where the virus
emulates ...[text shortened]... tiplying.
And for a brainless dead creature, it does an amazing job. That was my only thought there

Viruses aren't even dead. Viruses are an in-between state, not quite organic life, but not just rocks either. They invade cells and highjack the cells' chemistry into reproducing (which viruses cannot do by themselves). Some mutations continue to highjack other cells and, evolutionarily speaking, are successful if they pass on to one more generation, while other mutations fail to highjack other cells and are evolutionary dead ends.

What is scary for humans is that viruses adapt to our own planned attempts to thwart them. Not intentionally, of course: viruses don't have intentions. The mutations which infect other hosts get positively selected and reproduce more by infecting still other hosts, whereas the viruses which fail to infect other hosts disappear. The variants we are seeing now appear to be more easily transmitted to new hosts than the first strain; that is an evolutionary success for the virus and a setback for us. That is why it was so important to rot out the first wave of this virus, with rigorous lockdowns and near-universal public compliance, before it had mutated often enough to become vaccine resistant. Bleating about people's rights not to have to wear masks or practise social distancing etc. wasted precious time in a battle against a foe which doesn't give a snot about liberty. A missed opportunity.

@ponderable said
Could you please give a scientific source claiming that Selenium in the cell improves the copying mechanism for RNA?

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/04/200429105907.htm

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/06/010608081506.htm

Selenium deficiency is rare in the US, and I've seen no worthwhile research apart from the Chinese one you cited. Have you?

@moonbus - What is scary for humans is that viruses adapt to our own planned attempts to thwart them. Not intentionally, of course: viruses don't have intentions.

So amazingly, they all just happen to adapt, which just happens to keep the species alive.
You really think this is all from random movement, eh? 😉 very debatable, mon frer

@Earl-of-Trumps

No, it is not random. It’s natural law, to which H. saps is also subject.

@metal-brain said
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/04/200429105907.htm

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/06/010608081506.htm

Thank you for that, especially the second publication reads very interesting.

@earl-of-trumps said
@moonbus - What is scary for humans is that viruses adapt to our own planned attempts to thwart them. Not intentionally, of course: viruses don't have intentions.

So amazingly, they all just happen to adapt, which just happens to keep the species alive.
You really think this is all from random movement, eh? 😉 very debatable, mon frer

Yes it is definitely from random mutations that can occur when an organism replicates. Otherwise we would still be uni cellular animals floating in the sea.
The problem with virus’s is the rate of division, its supercharged evolution and it can appear almost strategic but its not, it’s just random mutations some of which are advantageous in that they can fool the host immune system better than the original. In other worlds evolution in real time.
The Kent variant is now the dominant strain in the uk.