Preview

The Cobra Event Analysis

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
824 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The Cobra Event Analysis
The Cobra Event | Response Essay |

The Cobra Event addressed an area of science that I have given much thought to. Viruses are fascinating; the mystery of their complex existence continues to baffle scientists who search for deeper understanding. Viruses have been at the center of a constant debate in the science community, arguing whether they are, in fact, living or not. It is as equally interesting as it is scary how people have the ability to alter one of the most confusing and deadly components of the environment. The Cobra Event further fueled and educated my interest on this topic, as well as enlightened me on how much of a threat these bio weapons and viruses themselves can be.
As humans continue to unveil more of this earth we inhabit, more viruses are discovered. This poses the thought that there could be countless more out there. The virus chimera of the Cobra Event, was a virus that appeared to be overlooked by scientists as harmless to humans. It was a virus that seemed to affect only the insect world. This virus, fictionally, combined with strands of the common cold virus produced this chimera strain of a brain virus, killing its victims in a matter of days. Genetically combining viruses was a completely new topic to me. The way viruses could be manipulated or combined to change and enhance traits was captivating. It comes with possibilities of the good it could do, and the evil it could create. The modified chimera strain in the story like real viruses affected each species of animal differently. It was terminal in humans, but it could infect rodents, who became carriers, but did not die from it. This concept is impressive as well as frightening knowing such deadly viruses can secretly live on.
Viruses have played a vast role in our lives. We constantly fret about sanitation and vaccination hoping to keep those foreign bodies away from ours. We hear the news stories about the outbreaks and see the advertisements pushing us to get our

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    His intention was to spread the virus and kill half of everyone in the world. Once those susceptible to the virus died, the survivors would benefit because then there would be more resources for each person. Humans have been reproducing exponentially and modern medicine has helped the world become even more crowded than ever before. The Cobra virus is a genetically engineered bioweapon made from smallpox, the common cold, and a caterpillar virus that attacks the nervous system. It was named the Cobra virus because the boxes that were first found with the virus inside had a cobra drawn on their lids. There is no way to stop a virus besides a vaccine, which takes years to develop. The AIDS virus was discovered 17 years ago and there still is no vaccine. To test its effectiveness, Archimedes released two boxes in New York and a virus bomb in a D.C. subway. Only twenty people died from these boxes. A large biological bomb released in New York City would spread all over the world as people travel on…

    • 880 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Virology Quiz

    • 1824 Words
    • 8 Pages

    1. Which of the following genomic nucleic acids are only found in viruses? a. dsDNA b. dsRNA c. ssDNA d. ssRNA e. B, C and D 2. About what percent of the human genome is indisputably viral? a. 1 b. 2 c. 5 d. 10 e. 50 3. Viruses were first discovered (and named as such) because they : a. could not be grown b. were very small c. were alive d. ate bacteria e. C and D 4. Phage therapy is to : a. Use a virus to kill a virus b. Use viruses to kill cancer cells c. Use viruses to kill bacteria d. Perform gene therapy e. Eat probiotics 5. What is probably the main reason to NOT use animals for determining virus counts: a. Mice are cute b. High Cost c. Reproducibility d. Study pathogenesis e. Fast 6. Incubation is…

    • 1824 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Flaws of Contagion

    • 989 Words
    • 3 Pages

    In 2011, the blockbuster, Contagion, was released, featuring several prominent actors. In summary, the movie is the story of a father who loses his wife and son to a completely brand new virus. This new virus, dubbed MEV-1, originated from a bat in Hong Kong. The bat bit a fruit then dropped it into a pigpen infecting the pig that consumed the fruit with the bat’s virus. While pig was prepped to be cooked, the chef touched the pig’s mouth, getting virus on his hand and shakes the hands of woman, Beth, making her patient zero for MEV-1. The disease then spread to others who come in contact with Beth or Beth’s belongings. After the CDC realized the existence of this virus, they promptly started researching it. After several days of research, scientists were able to determine that the virus was “15 to 19 kilobases in length and containing six to ten genes, typical of a paramyxovirus” containing genes from bats and pigs, which attach to receptors found on cells in the respiratory and the central nervous system. The virus is seemingly able to be contracted through the respiratory tract, but kills the host by making its way to the brain and causing encephalitis. The vaccine for the virus was developed by first growing the virus in fetal bat cells in culture, propagating and isolating, and finally inoculating rhesus monkeys with attenuated and dead forms of the virus. Out of desperation for working vaccine, after observing one monkey surviving during the vaccination trials, one of the researchers injected herself with the tested vaccine given to the surviving chimp. By doing so, she skipped the entire clinical trials portion of developing vaccines and had the vaccine fastracked to be mass-produced.…

    • 989 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Cobra Event

    • 829 Words
    • 4 Pages

    year old women who is a medical pathologist in training. She specialized in death, finding…

    • 829 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Although many creatures across the American Wasteland are the direct product of the global nuclear warfare, the Forced Evolutionary Virus (FEV) is one of the few exceptions in the Fallout Universe. The FEV started as a biological weapon manufactured by the Americans as a way to combat increasing suspicion that the Chinese were developing biological weapons…

    • 753 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    I found it interesting that Ebola has no carrier stat and because of the natural reservoir of the virus is unknown, the manner in which it first appears in a human at the start of an outbreak has not been determined!…

    • 380 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Leslie's Notes

    • 334 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The interventions that can be used to treat and contain the outbreak of an infectious disease are: genetics, pharmacology, diagnostics, immunology, and medical devices. In order to figure out what the disease is, scientists must identify the source through genetics, diagnostics. In order to do this, certain medical devices are used, such as a PCR. Then when found physicians can use pharmacology to prescribe a medicinal treatment for the disease. Since now doctors know the source of the disease, they might be able to vaccinate those people in the environment that are at risk of catching it.…

    • 334 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    This fear is legitimate – mankind could be fast-forwarding the evolution of harmful viruses or bacterium, leading…

    • 364 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Every day, people come in contact with diseases. Opening a door, shaking hands, kissing, purchasing and consuming food, all require touch and involve the exchange of bacteria. Prior to inoculating people with a weakened version of diseases, the mortality rate was much higher, especially among infants. Vaccines are administered to protect the masses from diseases and outbreaks that can spread through these exchanges, such as bubonic plague. Despite staggering evidence in favor of inoculation, vaccines are a highly controversial subject- especially the vaccination of young children.…

    • 1054 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Flu Vaccine Effectiveness

    • 881 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Have you ever considered injecting yourself with a virus? Yes, purposefully. Well, if you’ve ever received a vaccine, then the answer, quite simply, is yes. Vaccines, in fact, are shots which inject the patient with a small dose of virus particles. These particles help the body build a natural immunity to the disease or virus. Who would have thought that the best way to prevent you from getting sick is actually exposing yourself!? But there’s more to vaccines than meet the eye. Who should get vaccinated? Is it safe? Most importantly, is it even effective?…

    • 881 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Dna history

    • 507 Words
    • 3 Pages

    •conclusion; some factor from the dead, virulent smooth strain transformed rthe living non-virulent rough strain.…

    • 507 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Viruses Non Living

    • 809 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The concept of viruses being living or non-living has been greatly debated throughout the scientific community, essentially because of varying differences in scientist’s definitions of what constitutes life. Furthermore, scientists also disagree on the degree to which viruses fit into the living or non-living category.…

    • 809 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    knew that viruses could infect bacteria and make more viruses using the host cell’s replicating ‘machinery’…

    • 1273 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    This meeting was similar to one that took place in 1975, however, the stakes were much higher. Everyone at this meeting had access to a tool that could give humanity the ‘source code’ of life, clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR). Previous genetic editing techniques were already available before CRISPR, so why was this so significant? To put it into simple terms, imagine a keyboard with a single function of typing letters. That was the level of gene editing we were capable of achieving before. Now, with CRISPR, you are given access to arrow keys, a space bar, backspace, and one of the most powerful tools, “CTRL F”. This technique could revolutionize humanity, but just like any revolution, it comes with several risks, consequences, and implications. CRISPR could allow researchers to conjure science fiction ideas into reality. Ideas such as designer babies, mutants, or even an army of genetically modified super…

    • 856 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Influenza Pandemic 2009

    • 2070 Words
    • 9 Pages

    The contagious viral infection that emerged in 2009 was unexpected and sent shockwaves across the globe as it came many years after the worldwide flu pandemics occurring in 1918, 1957, and 1986. This new pandemic spiraled out of control unexpectedly causing the World Health Organization (WHO) to call it the first pandemic of the 21st century, due to many outbreaks across the globe (Bartolotti, R. 2012). The objective of this paper is to focus on the information and to clearly establish all measures of the outbreak, pathogenesis, epidemiology, response, and preparedness.…

    • 2070 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays