pktechgirlbackup (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
pktechgirlbackup) wrote2011-09-21 10:22 pm
pktechgirlbackup) wrote2011-09-21 10:22 pm
The fire that burns butter tempers steel
So in the past month, HIV and its cousins* have**:
1. Cured Leukemia
2. Made kittens glow in the dark
I only intellectually understand how terrifying AIDS was in the 80s, when it appeared to kill you in months and no one knew what it was. I grew up in a time when it was dangerous, but known- there's a test for it, and treatment that can extend your life. I'm getting the feeling that 200, or maybe even 100, years from now, people will view HIV as a tremendous gift that is the basis of immortality and six pack abs. And they'll read about the 80s and kind of get it intellectually, but not really, the way I don't understand fear of bacterial illness. Until their immortality shot mutates and kills them horribly, just like antibiotic-resistant bacteria are going to kill us.
*by which I mean, heavily modified viral particles based on HIV and its feline equivalent
**by which I mean, in the past month, I have heard about the following things that happened some time ago.
1. Cured Leukemia
2. Made kittens glow in the dark
I only intellectually understand how terrifying AIDS was in the 80s, when it appeared to kill you in months and no one knew what it was. I grew up in a time when it was dangerous, but known- there's a test for it, and treatment that can extend your life. I'm getting the feeling that 200, or maybe even 100, years from now, people will view HIV as a tremendous gift that is the basis of immortality and six pack abs. And they'll read about the 80s and kind of get it intellectually, but not really, the way I don't understand fear of bacterial illness. Until their immortality shot mutates and kills them horribly, just like antibiotic-resistant bacteria are going to kill us.
*by which I mean, heavily modified viral particles based on HIV and its feline equivalent
**by which I mean, in the past month, I have heard about the following things that happened some time ago.