cm2187 14 hours ago

That also sounds like a recipe for a terrifying virus

6
Symmetry 11 hours ago

It would allow a synthetic virus to get a foothold in your cells more easily, but our cells don't make Pseudouridine naturally which throws a big wrench in the ability of a virus to copy itself. And without replication you don't have a serious infection.

vanderZwan 13 hours ago

I would be surprised if viruses using U instead of T didn't already exist. After all, don't all viruses work by doing gene editing in vivo, except just localized to one cell?

EDIT: well, I suppose the question is whether cells of living beings could produce the U required for the viruses. But if not, then a wild virus using U instead of T to bypass our immunity also would not be a threat for that very reason.

snalty 12 hours ago

It’s not the use of Uracil/Urimidine that bypasses the immune system. RNA uses Uracil instead of thymine in all organisms afaik, and RNA viruses certainly exist. It’s pseudouridine that’s the magic stuff.

teekert 13 hours ago

I feel a bit proud that humanity healed a baby with this tech before any viruses were constructed/released.

shiandow 9 hours ago

I don't thnk the body has a way of making mRNA with pseudouridine.

dtpro20 13 hours ago

It's almost exactly the premise of the movie "I am Legend," But it uses CRISPR instead of a Virus as the delivery mechanism.

dapf 13 hours ago

It sounds like Spiderman tech.