Will our Covid-Induced Habits of Sterilizing Everything Lead to the Evolution of the Next Superbug?

[efarina96]

Yes, it obviously will. Sorry, you're a scientist who needz 14,000 studies to understand something about reality thay is self-evidently true? Sorry, you eat up the propaganda spewed by the US media and they aren't talking about this? Sorry, I forgot we are a society of mindless parrots trapped in endless echo chambers. Carry on.

 

[Snorrie]

So who can sterilize everything within their environment? In computer chip manufacture which is done in clean rooms where the air is filtered of particles less than a micron and the technicians and equipment are garbed better than in a hospital room, contamination still occurs. Evolution responds to selective biological pressure on an organism. e.g.: anti-biotic resistance, and mutant strains as in Scarlet Fever being replaced by Scarlet Tina due to anti-biotics. Whether any new/mutant organism is a "Superbug" for human disease or just another organism depends solely on Evolution. We need to maintain the capability to target kill human disease organisms and those that affect food crops and livestock. It's an on-going Evolutionary process. Sterilization is a limited kill method.

 

[efarina96]

So who can sterilize everything within their environment? In computer chip manufacture which is done in clean rooms where the air is filtered of particles less than a micron and the technicians and equipment are garbed better than in a hospital room, contamination still occurs. Evolution responds to selective biological pressure on an organism. e.g.: anti-biotic resistance, and mutant strains as in Scarlet Fever being replaced by Scarlet Tina due to anti-biotics. Whether any new/mutant organism is a "Superbug" for human disease or just another organism depends solely on Evolution. We need to maintain the capability to target kill human disease organisms and those that affect food crops and livestock. It's an on-going Evolutionary process. Sterilization is a limited kill method.

I am talking about how compulsive sanitization habits can act as a selective biological pressure that conceives the next pandemic. I agree with most of what you said. Instead of "education for all" our government needs to comission studies to find the greatest areas of need in our society in terms of labor. Then issue merit-based scholarships in a blind application process in proportion with the noted labor deficit per given field. This is a much more realistic and productive long-term solution than free college for all which is obviously untenable given the economic climate. We would also have much more versatility as a society and would be more prepared to combat the next pandemic, among other risks such as climate change.

 

[Snorrie]

Your point is taken and is accurate. The application seems to apply within limited, unique biological environments. The world's plans for the human settlement of extraterrestrial places would be one of those unique environments, shipboard and in situ. Back on Earth; My opinion: Pandemic, epidemic, localized diseases will occur due to the unforeseen/untoward effects of Evolution, and our actions/reactions. As for government solutions; And yes I'm highly cynical .... "DON'T TRUST THE GOVERNMENT(S) to be altruistic, knowledgeable, bias free, and farsighted". Basically, politics is akin to a three ring Big Top Circus being directed from the Monkey House. ..... H.L. Mencken wryly opined. Luckily, Evolution and random chance have produced some smart monkeys. It's those who seem to develop the insight and make the correct decisions.

 

[MasterBlaster]

It really depends on the nature and consistency of the "sterilisation". We have no superbug issues when using autoclaves, UV or chemical sterilisation- the bigger risk really comes from overuse of biochemical strategies.

 

[marvin kantorowitz]

Your point is taken and is accurate. The application seems to apply within limited, unique biological environments. The world's plans for the human settlement of extraterrestrial places would be one of those unique environments, shipboard and in situ. Back on Earth; My opinion: Pandemic, epidemic, localized diseases will occur due to the unforeseen/untoward effects of Evolution, and our actions/reactions. As for government solutions; And yes I'm highly cynical .... "DON'T TRUST THE GOVERNMENT(S) to be altruistic, knowledgeable, bias free, and farsighted". Basically, politics is akin to a three ring Big Top Circus being directed from the Monkey House. ..... H.L. Mencken wryly opined. Luckily, Evolution and random chance have produced some smart monkeys. It's those who seem to develop the insight and make the correct decisions.

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