Imagine this: you have top secret information regarding the meaning of life or specs for the biggest new military aircraft, but would rather die than have the data fall into the wrong hands. instead of carrying a flash drive or something that could be read by another party. why not have your scientists bio-engineer a special virus to hold the info in its DNA? you could inject into an animal or, if it was completely nessicary, even yourself. After they take a blood sample, you could take a dose of penacillin to wipe the important, if perhaps weak, virus from your system indefinately.
-- neo_, Sep 12 2009

My version Whistleblowing_20an...via_20gene-splicing
I was a little embarrassed to post it though [nineteenthly, Sep 12 2009]

http://www.mysterio...com/Candy_Jones.htm Not the same thing, but achieves the same thing and requires less high tech equipment: [unfettered, Sep 14 2009]

I did this one a while back. See link.
-- nineteenthly, Sep 12 2009


// why not have your scientists bio-engineer a
// special virus to hold the info in its DNA?

Because then I'd have to kill them, and those scientists don't exactly come cheap.

Erm.

If you can have scientists who can encode it, isn't it likely that the bad guys have scientists who can decode it?
-- jutta, Sep 13 2009


It's doable, but shirley a rather complicated way of doing it? Why not use the plethora of encryption tools and other cunning devices which are simpler, cheaper, more secure, less dangerous, and generally slicker?

Also, if your doctor give you penicillin (or even penacillin) to deal with a viral infection, you really need to consider switching doctors.
-- MaxwellBuchanan, Sep 13 2009


//those scientists don't exactly come cheap.//

pssst - Jutta - if you get a quote, let me know. I'll do it for 70%.
-- MaxwellBuchanan, Sep 13 2009


I think the genome concerned needs to be in the wild so it can't be destroyed. The problem is the "top secret" bit.

Concerning penicillin, whereas it does nothing to viruses, it might deal with a secondary infection, so it wouldn't be completely stupid to prescribe an antibiotic, though dangerous from the point of view of encouraging the evolution of resistance.
-- nineteenthly, Sep 14 2009


yes, yes, i get it already!! penicillin is not an antiviral. instead use a large dose of [insert your antiviral here]
-- neo_, Oct 12 2009



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