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Could one engineer a virus to degrade over time?
Suppose someone altered a virus, either to become more contagious or lethal (as a bioweapon) or to carry genetic material (as a treatment or communal vaccine). Could you fix it so that the virus became less dangerous with each generation, fading out of the ecosystem after it had done its job?
1 Answer
- formerly_bobLv 73 years agoFavorite Answer
No. The changes that viruses make are caused by genetic mutations, which is random. There is no known mechanism to make naturally-occurring mutations non-random. That's not the only problem. Any virus that is less virulent than other viruses will spread at a lower rate - which makes it eventually disappear. At the same time, viruses that are more virulent will tend to proliferate and become more common. You can't make a weak virus that will out-compete a stronger virus.
