The presence of diseases on Safehold

Julia Minor wrote:

noblehunter wrote:There's also the possibility of some idiot re-introducing something during the war of the fallen.

As I recall, RFC mentioned in another thread in this subforum that a bioweapon was used during that war.

We know at least one disease eradicated in the Terran Federation has reappeared on Safehold -- the person used to conceal the bomb that nearly got Hektor and Iris was suffering from late-stage Alzheimer's, and Merlin's internal narration stated Alzheimer's had been wiped out before the Gbaba.

Doesn't mean it was a pathogen. It could be stopped by the nanotech.

There is also a school of thought that some diesases are basically latent in our own DNA and that of other species and can re-emerge from within those healthy populations on thier own.

Animal resivious have already been mentioned and don't foreget good old evolution. Bacteria and Virusus evolve at a hellacious rate and there is no reason a natural part of the human biome such as e-coli or the human papillomavirus family couldn't evolve into somthing very nasty in a new environment. Both of these families have 100% infection rates in currently living humans


lifestyle and aging diseases will inevitably come back (Altheimers, Cancers, Heart disease, Diabetes) as unless the human population was all genegineered they will be lurking in the gene pool. If I was populating the mission I would have actually made sure those genes came along as somtimes bad genes prevent worse things. E.g. Africans are susceptable to sickle cell Aenemia but the same genes help protect from Malaria.

Julia Minor wrote:As I recall, RFC mentioned in another thread in this subforum that a bioweapon was used during that war.

We know at least one disease eradicated in the Terran Federation has reappeared on Safehold -- the person used to conceal the bomb that nearly got Hektor and Iris was suffering from late-stage Alzheimer's, and Merlin's internal narration stated Alzheimer's had been wiped out before the Gbaba.

Alzheimer's is likely more genetic than viral or bacteria based. While the TF routinely *did* do some genetic engineering on their offspring; they didn't build them from scratch. It's *possible* that some negative - but recessive - characteristics might have been in *some* (probably small) percentage of the original colonists. Or, for that matter; mutation over the nearly 1000 years *could* have re-introduced some genetic defects. Since the Pasqualites didn't get any *explanation* for the basis of their "laws*; it's not like they *know* about various chemicals causing mutations and birth defects.

Also, embryos *can* carry viruses.

And on another point; it's always *possible* that some virus - or bacteria - of purely local origin could have also mutated to be able to affect humans and other imports. It's not said that the original ecosystem of Safehold wasn't based on DNA; after all.

Alzheimer's is thought to be like cancer in the sense that some people have a genetic predisposition to developing it, while others may contract the condition due to environmental influences like toxin exposure or poor diet. Any disease that's basically due to a breakdown in the body would return once people were no longer being nano-vaccinated. With the caveat that those genetic predispositions may have been edited out of the human genome. So Alzheimer's would make a comeback for example, but remain less common than it was on pre genetic engineering Earth.

It's extremely hard to kill every last bacteria or virus no matter how hard you try. There's a slight possibility we have already spread common terrestrial bacteria to Mars despite our attempts to ensure that all landing craft sent there were completely sterile.

Plus of course, organisms like e. coli which our bodies require can cause sickness when they reach high concentrations in water. Necessary soil bacteria are responsible for diseases like tetanus, anthrax, and botulism. You can't eradicate every microbe if you want a healthy terrestrial biosphere. Certain nasties like cholera could be wiped out though and one would not expect them to be present on Safehold.