[ExI] "Feral" humans, NOT

[Keith Henson]

If you read the descriptions of Jared Lee Loughner's behavior and
personality changes in the context of this article:

http://discovermagazine.com/2010/jun/03-the-insanity-virus

There is a very good chance he was descending into his first episode
of schizophrenia at the time he did the shootings.

If the article has the cause of schizophrenia right, that it is the
result of a reactivated a 60 million year old retrovirus integrated
into our genome, then perhaps as a society we could better deal with
it.

If schizophrenia is the result of a reactivated infection of HERV-W,
then we no longer have to think of the person who has schizophrenia as
being at fault any more than a person who has TB or cancer.

And perhaps we can be more observant, especially if people can be
tested for antibodies to the virus.  You see a friend start acting
weird and withdrawing, maybe they should be tested and treated because
it there might be a cause for the odd behavior that they have no
control over.

It's possible that a high level of HERV-W should be reason to keep
people from buying guns.

Interesting possibility.

Keith