Another sort of ecostalinist doom mongering is based on evolution. For example, harmful microorganisms - disease germs - evolve to be resistant to antibiotics. The same sort of issue arises with pesticides. A little natural systems knowledge reveals that this isn't a proper doom scenario so much as a simple insight into the eternal struggle of life contending with life. Wee besties evolve new tactics for attacking their prey, and their prey evolve new defenses. Life, and the struggle, goes on. See The Red Queen Hypothesis and any of a variety of meditations on the evolutionary utility of swapping spit for further discussion if required.

Humans have their own defenses - their immune system - since they are organisms too and subject to the same threats and opportunities as the lowliest microbe. But humans are particularly clever and have developed some still primitive but rapidly advancing ways to augment evolution, and do so at a faster rate. Borrowing defenses from other organisms - antibiotics - was an early hack but a new method is to synthesize novel defenses.

CSA-13 is one of a class of compounds known as ceragenins, which were developed by Brigham Young University Professor Paul Savage to mimic antimicrobial proteins that occur naturally in the body. The ceragenins are smaller than antimicrobial proteins, and are not as vulnerable to degradation in the body. They have previously been shown to be effective against a variety of bacterial species. . .

Dr. Howell and his colleagues wanted to learn if CSA-13 could fight vaccinia virus infections. Vaccinia virus is closely related to the organism that causes smallpox and is used in smallpox vaccines. . .

CSA-13 demonstrated effectiveness against vaccinia in three different tests. When CSA-13 and vaccinia virus were directly incubated together, the CSA-13 killed more than 96% of the virus at a 25 micromolar concentration. When CSA-13 was added to cells infected with vaccinia, it both reduced vaccinia virus gene expression and allowed more of the infected cells to survive. Finally, the researchers infected immune-compromised mice with vaccinia virus, then applied CSA-13 onto their skin. The CSA-13 reduced the number of skin lesions caused by vaccinia virus.

"These experiments definitively showed for the first time CSA-13 can effectively fight vaccinia virus infections," said senior author Dr. Leung.

Within their experiments, the researchers found that, in addition to directly killing the virus, CSA-13 also stimulated cells to produce their own antimicrobial proteins, LL-37 and HBD-3. Dr. Howell and colleagues have previously shown that these antimicrobial proteins also exhibit antiviral activity against vaccinia virus.

"We knew from our plaque assays, that CSA-13 was directly killing the virus," said Dr. Howell. "But these experiments show that it also stimulates cells to produce their own antimicrobial proteins, which contribute to its disease-fighting capabilities. Our next step is to learn how CSA-13 stimulates cells' own innate immune defenses."

This is an appealing development. Finding ways to stimulate and amplify human immunity seems more powerful and long lasting than dosing with borrowed or synthesized toxins.