3 ms·
No one knows. One school of thought is that extraterrestrial pathogens could pose limited risk. Earthbound pathogens have co-evolved with humanity in order to
by bleepblorp 6y ago
No one knows.
One school of thought is that extraterrestrial pathogens could pose limited risk. Earthbound pathogens have co-evolved with humanity in order to harm us better, but xenobiological pathogens would not have this advantage and might not pose much of a threat.
On the other hand, it's entirely possible that the random chances of evolution could create a xenovirus that's airborne in humans and bootstraps a fatal prion disease in everyone it infects.
- jandrese 6y agoSomething like a bacterial infection might pose a problem as it is just eating simple sugars and multiplying, but is completely novel to our immune system. A prion seems unlikely. A virus wound be absolutely shocking.
- tejtm 6y ago> A virus wound be absolutely shocking. Indeed, it would imply coming from an origin with reproducing DNA.