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By cancelling $500 million in mRNA research, the US has lost its only effective weapon against H5N1 Bird Flu. (self.futurology)

submitted 5 days ago by Lugh to c/futurology

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H5N1 Bird Flu hasn't gone away; in fact, the opposite. It's constantly spreading and becoming endemic in more and more animal populations. In North America, notably in the national dairy herd. All this increases the chances that a day comes when a mutation gives us a variant with 2 deadly characteristics. 1. Easily transmissible in humans & 2. A high mortality rate in humans.

mRNA technology is a bright spot in preventing future horror movie scenarios. It gives us the means to quickly develop a vaccine if a highly infectious and deadly variant arises. Amazingly, the US has just decided to dump that lifeline, and is jettisoning all funding for mRNA technology.

mRNA technology will continue to be developed in the rest of the world. Like more and more science and technology areas, China will probably become the leader. If the horror movie day comes, and a highly infectious and deadly human variant of H5N1 arises, Americans better hope their leaders are good at begging and pleading for help from the rest of the world in desperate circumstances, because they're going to need it.

US halt $500m in mRNA vaccine research, RFK says

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[–] protist@mander.xyz 5 points 5 days ago

The US giving up on mRNA technology is abhorrent, but also mRNA vaccines aren't the only way to create a vaccine for a novel flu virus. The US already has stockpiles of H5N1 vaccines produced using traditional vaccine technology. At least until Trump or RFK decide to destroy them. Let me be clear I'm not defending anything these people are doing here

[–] ankyshor 2 points 4 days ago

The US’s decision to stop funding mRNA research could have serious consequences. The global competition in biotech is fierce, and losing ground means more dependence on others. This is why scientific investment is crucial — the cost of prevention is far less than dealing with a full-blown pandemic. Switching gears for a moment — on a lighter note, playing fast-paced games like Geometry Dash Lite can be a fun distraction.

[–] Delta_V@lemmy.world 2 points 5 days ago

One more reason that for-profit medicine is a plague.

Why should everybody contribute to funding the cure, just to have a small clique of investors siphon off all the revenue?

Would it not make more sense for everybody to contribute to funding the cure, and then have the revenue from its distribution reimburse everybody?