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From: richard@sequent.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.med
Subject: Re: weight loss
Message-ID: <469@sequent.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 3-May-84 12:26:13 EDT
Article-I.D.: sequent.469
Posted: Thu May  3 12:26:13 1984
Date-Received: Sun, 29-Apr-84 09:16:47 EDT
References: <212@lzmi.UUCP>, <707@shark.UUCP> <867@brl-vgr.ARPA>
Organization: Sequent Computer Systems, Portland
Lines: 38

>>  Isn't the obvious answer some drug, process, or technique that will
>>  KILL these dreaded "fat cells" once and for all? ...

As far as I know, no drug has been isolated that has high toxicity for
a particular type of cell, while low or none for others.  If someone
were to discover such a technique/drug, they would be better aiming it
at cancer cells.  The world needs a "once and for all" cancer cure
much more than a weight loss treatment.  People without physiological
imbalances should really be able to trim themselves down; "magic"
treatments won't cure the bad habits that caused the fat in the first
place.  [As an aside, I'm amazed at the people, male and female, that
insist they need to lose more weight when they're already too thin.  Most
of these people *really* need to eat more and excercise *alot* more, to
put on non-fat mass - personal opinion of course.]

One technique might very well show up in the next few decades to cure the
cancer problem, although I'll be disgusted if it's also use for fat.
The method would be to redesign a *virus* to specificly attack cells that
exhibit chemical characteristics of cancer [or fat] cells.  Since
viruses are already target-sensitive, the "aiming"  should be feasible.
Techniques are also being discovered by which a manufactured strain
can be safeguarded against viable mutations, which might allow them to
attack non-cancer cells.  No real redesign would be necessary on the viral
process itself, since viruses are already quite adept at killing cells.
The knowledge needed would be in the area of targeting (understanding
how viruses select penetration sites), immunity (you don't want the bodies
immunological defenses fighting the medicine, so the virus must be "invisible")
and immutability (prevent the tool from going astray.)

Of course, to get all this, we need a good deal of basic and applied research.
But [assuming the we don't kill ourselves first] it will eventually happen.

___________________________________________________________________________
The preceding should not to be construed as the statement or opinion of the
employers or associates of the author.    It is solely the belief...

			from the confused and bleeding fingertips of
				...!sequent!richard