David R Brown

Am I Alone David R Brown

In the 1960's, nuclear annihilation was the most feared and likely scenario for the destruction of mankind as we know it. In fact if the worst case scenario had taken place, there is every chance that millions of people would have survived. What is now very apparent is the fact that mankind's greatest threat is a particle so small it is one hundredth the size of a bacteria. These particles are DNA or RNA strands wrapped in a protein or lipid protective covering. They are viruses. Viruses have been described as "organisms at the edge of life." They are not "alive" as we usually define life, but neither are they dead and inert. They are a parasitic group of molecules that require a living cell to latch onto, so they can replicate. Because they are so simple a life form, and their replication usually results in a swap of some of their DNA with the host cell, they transform or mutate quite readily. Just for a moment, let us imagine a virus that has long been dormant now finds a home in one human being. This virus is different. It does not require blood or bodily fluid to be transferred to a new host. Neither does it require a person to collect it off a surface and insert it in a nose or an eye. When the infected person coughs or sneezes, this virus is expelled into the air. It does not fall to the ground. What if it is so small it attaches itself to a dust particle? What if it can remain on that particle indefinitely? What if another person breathes that particle into their lungs? It would have found a new host. The air currents in our world do not respect borders. We have seen pictures of a dust storm in the Sahara Desert that blew across the Atlantic Ocean. If grains of sand can make that journey, why not a virus on a dust particle?We will never see it coming, and by the time it's here, it will be too late.