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Subject:
From:
Haruna Darbo <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
The Gambia and related-issues mailing list <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Fri, 8 Aug 2008 03:36:47 EDT
Content-Type:
text/plain
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Suntou,
 
Unawares, you just timidly acknowledged one similarity between a virus and  a 
Jinn, if with an Islamic perspective. You were at pains to share with my  
"nephew" Dibassey that you dont and the Ulemaa dont really know what Jinns  
consisted of. You share that only their characteristics (polyform and  mutational 
attributes, ability to respond to sensation - perhaps endowed with a  nervous 
system of sorts, etcetera). That they can be snakes, frogs, wind,  insects, 
etc. Similarly, Mr. Rybicki, in the article below, submits that we have  not yet 
determined what constitutes a virus. One reason being that they do not  leave 
fossilized traces. Another reason is because they mutate and mimick the  
host's characteristics in such a way that it is hard to separate their  constituent 
elements from those of their hosts. You have shared implicitly  that several 
humans can have a Jinn or Jinns in common. And so can humans a  virus/viruses 
in common. That goes to contagion.
 
I think we are embarked on classical research here that combines both  
spiritual and mechanical/scientific research to solve a common quandry. At least  
for my "nephew" Dibassey. In time I will share with you good folk some  
information about a virus called PRION. Don't let the names fool you. It is  just like 
giving your Jinns names, or hurricanes and tornadoes names for want of  other 
qualification. So having a name does not constitutive form  make.
 
Innahu huwa yubdi'U wayu-eed, wahuwal ghafoorul wadood. Thul arsil majeed  
.............
Masoud. MQJGDT. Al Mu'Umin.
 
In a message dated 8/7/2008 11:30:37 P.M. Mountain Daylight Time,  
[log in to unmask] writes:

good  efforts haruna. on my part i believe that jinns are a being just like 
we are.  are they a virus, unless some one explains what consist of a virus, i 
cannot  accept that claim.


Haruna Darbo <[log in to unmask]>  wrote:
Could the two be one and the same? Enquiring minds want to  know. Dibassey 
I'm trying to help you in your lifetime of angst. We may  discover something 
together with Suntou. Avogadro's contemporaries thought  he were silly too. 
Haruna. And he never obtained an invite to the infamous  gaseous conference 
in 
Nouackchott.


Ed Rybicki, a virologist at  the University of Cape Town in South Africa, 
answers: 
Tracing the  origins of viruses is difficult because they don't leave fossils 
and  because of the tricks they use to make copies of themselves within the  
cells they've invaded. Some viruses even have the ability to stitch their  
own 
genes into those of the cells they infect, which means studying their  
ancestry 
requires untangling it from the history of their hosts and other  organisms. 
What makes the process even more complicated is that viruses  don't just 
infect humans; they can infect basically any organism—from  _bacteria_ 
(http://www.sciam.com/topic.cfm?id=bacteria) to horses; seaweed  to people. 
Still, scientists have been able to piece together some viral  histories, 
based on the fact that the genes of many viruses—such as  those that cause 
herpes 
and mono—seem to share some properties with  cells' own genes. This could 
suggest that they started as big bits of  cellular DNA and then became 
independent—
or that these viruses came  along very early in _evolution_  
(http://www.sciam.com/topic.cfm?id=evolution) , and some of their DNA  stuck 
around in cells' 
genomes. The fact that some viruses that infect  humans share structural 
features with viruses that infect bacteria could  mean that all of these 
viruses have 
a common origin, dating back several  billion years. This highlights another 
problem with tracing virus origins:  most modern viruses seem to be a 
patchwork of bits that come from  different sources—a sort of "mix and 
match" approach 
to building an  organism. 

The fact that viruses like the deadly Ebola and Marburg  viruses, as well as 
the distantly related viruses that cause measles and  rabies, are only found 
in a limited number of species suggests that those  viruses are relatively 
new—
after all, those organisms came along  somewhat recently in evolutionary 
time. 
Many of these "new" viruses likely  originated in insects many million years 
ago and at some point in  evolution developed the ability to infect other 
species—probably as  insects interacted with or fed from them. 

HIV, which is thought to  have first emerged in humans in the 1930s, is 
another kind of virus, known  as a retrovirus. These simple viruses are akin 
to 
elements found in normal  cells that have the ability to copy and insert 
themselves throughout the  genome. There are a number of viruses that have a 
similar 
way of copying  themselves—a process that reverses the normal flow of 
information in  cells, which is where the term "retro" comes from—and 
their central  
machinery for replication may be a bridge from the _original life-forms on  
this 
planet_  
(http://www.sciamdigital.com/index.cfm?fa=Products.ViewIssuePreview&ARTICLEID_
CHAR=6A1A42E0-16E8-4F62-A20A-233B2E760B1)  to what we know as life 
today. In fact, we carry among our genes many  "fossilized" retroviruses—
left 
over from the infection of distant  ancestors—which can help us trace our 
evolution as a species.  

Then there are the viruses whose genomes are so large that scientists  can't 
quite figure out what part of the cell they would have come from.  Take, for 
instance, the largest-ever virus so far discovered, mimivirus:  its genome is 
some 50 times larger than that of HIV and is larger than  that of some 
bacteria. 
Some of the largest known viruses infect simple  organisms such as amoebas 
and simple marine algae. This indicates that  they may have an ancient 
origin, 
possibly as parasitic life-forms that  then adapted to the "virus lifestyle." 
In fact, viruses may be responsible  for significant episodes of evolutionary 
change, especially in more  complex types of organisms. 

At the end of the day, however, despite  all of their common features and 
unique abilities to copy and spread their  genomes, the origins of most 
viruses 
may remain forever  obscure.



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**************Looking for a car that's sporty, fun and fits in your budget? 
Read reviews on AOL Autos.      
(http://autos.aol.com/cars-BMW-128-2008/expert-review?ncid=aolaut00050000000017 )


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