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Pete Ross's avatar

"both respond to the same antiviral drug"

Yep, there are some mysteries that still need to be resolved in the realm of what is known as the 'translational medicine' steps of obtaining a successful outcome from screening hundreds of cytotoxic compounds in vitro: eventually one or more of them is gonna be relatively safe to use to treat the target condition. Which suggests that the 'virus' model is especially useful for eliminating from use compounds that are not eligible for patent protection. Clinical response to the same compound might suggest a common etiology but doesn't necessarily confirm the 'virus' model for the rashes; for example, maybe the compound influences the immune system in a similar beneficial way. The 'virus' part might just be an illusion stemming from the weird alchemy of cell cultures techniques.

Maybe rather than saying 'no-virus' it's better to switch to saying 'no-flying-viruses' or 'no-contagion'.

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