"If you look at the viruses that are the biggest threats of modern times, most of them were unknown through human history: HIV, SARS, Ebola (see A spotter's guide to human viruses). You don't know where the next one is coming from. How do you develop therapeutics for the unknown and unknowable, given that you won't have time to develop a vaccine for a new agent after it appears?" he asks.

Goldblatt and a few other researchers think they have the answer. They are working on an entirely new class of antiviral drugs that should do something seemingly impossible: work against a wide range of existing viruses and also be effective against viruses that have not even evolved yet. What's more, it should be extremely difficult for any virus to become resistant to these drugs.

...

Back in the late 1990s, when Goldblatt was at DARPA, he began to wonder whether there was another strategy, one that exploits the key weakness of all viruses: their utter dependence on their hosts. By themselves, viruses are more helpless than newborn babies. They can replicate only by tricking their host cells into making more copies of them, a process that can involve hundreds of host proteins.

What if, Goldblatt wondered, some host proteins are essential for viral replication but not for the survival of the host? If so, disabling these proteins should block viral replication without killing healthy cells.

After moving to Functional Genetics, Goldblatt began putting his idea to the test. He and his colleagues disabled one gene at a time in human cells before exposing them to viruses such as flu. This fishing expedition worked beautifully: they identified more than 100 different human proteins that flu viruses need to replicate but which cells can survive without. Only four were previously known to be involved in viral replication.

One especially promising target is TSG101, a protein involved in the transport of materials within cells that many viruses co-opt to break out of cells. Functional Genetics has developed a small-molecule drug that appears to block the interaction between viruses and TSG101. Dubbed FGI-104, the drug inhibits a wide range of viruses in cell culture, including hepatitis C and HIV, and has also been shown to protect mice against Ebola (American Journal of Translational Research, vol 1, p 87).

As an ecologist, I'm worried about the immutable law of unintended consequences here.

As rockreaver I'm myself. As codefrog 4 people had the ability to sign in as him and they did. I've tried to get codefrog unbanned because I think that a person should be able to say "I messed up. Sorry about that." and start over.

You know... my first time here didn't go so well. I got really frustrated.

This time around I'm actually not getting stupid and agitated.

So if people can let someone start over then I'd like that. If not then well... I don't know.

I like to climb. The people here are great people and I messed up. I want to make a lot of excuses and say this or that but that would be kind of lame wouldn't it.

As rockreaver I'm myself. As codefrog 4 people had the ability to sign in as him and they did. I've tried to get codefrog unbanned because I think that a person should be able to say "I messed up. Sorry about that." and start over.

A few people here have known all along who rockreaver was and it hasn't really bothered them. I debated loading that picture but then I thought about more and realized that if you have to live a lie to be accepted by people then it ain't worth it.

Codefrog is still banned. I'm the only person who is/was rockreaver and I'm not giving that sign-in to anyone.

Codefrog was a guy from france, a guy from India and 2 guys from Australia. Rockreaver is just me.

I just want to climb, learn, be humble and not have to duck or hide my face.

So is that okay?

{EDIT} Your comments are a bit depressing though. I've lost 30 pounds between photos and you didn't notice. I'm not in the Navy. I'm not a SEAL. I'm not any of that military stuff either. I have some friends who are and that's about it. When I gave up the profile information the 4 guys decided to be 4 faces and it rolled from there. BLONDGECKO stopped it all and I think I took a bit of time off here. Now I'm back. {/EDIT}

I feel like I'm walking into dickheads anonymous:

"I'm codefrog and I'm a dickhead."

There I've said it. I'm just a normal guy now. Well mostly normal. I climb and I guess some people don't think that's normal.

Thanks for the "welcome".

A seriously stupid profile I had. It got banned. I've been rockreaver a long time.

I thought just by changing my profile pic that nobody would remember. Somebody did. So I'm back into obscurity.

I'm not a troll though. I'm just a normal guy that had a few days of bad judgment in which he gave his user/pass here to friends. They had too much fun.

Anyway, move along folks nothing to see here. I shouldn't have touched my profile picture.

Read GMBURNS conversation with me.

Who cares anyway. It wasn't me. I guess I outed them. They are gone. Not even climbers. Codefrog is gone and I guess that's fine too.

Rockreaver is here but you can read every post I've made here. I'm not the 4 cheesheads that were codefrog.

Someone got outed but not sure who...

Does it matter? It's the internet right. Out on rocks I'm safe. I'm an okay climber but I'm safe. I'm a taxpaying father, husband, etc... I own a car but only drive it to climb. The 4 guys are the odd ones. 2 of them like vegemite.

are you serious?

you just outed yourself