5 ms·

This is very good news for the wealthy, not so much for the average Joe - it will take a lot of time for this treatment to become cheap enough to be used at sca

This is very good news for the wealthy, not so much for the average Joe - it will take a lot of time for this treatment to become cheap enough to be used at scale.

culopatin 4y ago
It’s still good news for average joe because at least there is something to look forward to.
- danuker 4y ago
  Reminds me of this story: https://spellbinders.org/the-smell-of-baking-bread/ https://spellbinders.org/the-smell-of-baking-bread/ The smell of bread in this story is the knowledge that treatment exists.
  - xattt 4y ago
    What is the sound of jingling money in this story?
    - deleted 4y ago
      [deleted]
    - danuker 4y ago
      I guess, ad impressions on the site you've seen the news about the treatment.
vtail 4y ago
On the contrary, it’s a very, very good news for an average Joe. Every sufficiently advanced technology starts very expensive. Then capitalism and progress do their job, and it becomes available for masses. The path to “make it cheaper” is generally easier than the path to “make it possible”.
- marricks 4y ago
  Couple points: - MRNA COVID vaccine patents weren’t open sourced or available for the third world but Cuba’s vaccine solutions are - simple things like dental care aren’t offered in the US I think you should replace “available for the masses” with available “to the middle classes” which may seem the same to the average HN reader but not the average inhabitant of our planet
  - Firmwarrior 4y ago
    Good news: We cured cancer Bad news: Some people are still poor
    - smallnix 4y ago
      Good news: We will cure some people with cancer Bad news: We will not cure some people with cancer
      - praveen9920 4y ago
        Good news: We will cure some rich people with cancer Bad news: We will kill some rich people with cancer
    - marricks 4y ago
      I was directly calling out the bold and wrong claim that “it will be available for the masses” because that is entirely wrong. If I get cancer 10 years from now I could be in luck! But it doesn’t mean I should immediately assume everyone else is.
    - Tozen 4y ago
      Good news: We found new alternative methods to treat cancer Bad news: You need to be very rich and very lucky
  - brigandish 4y ago
    > I think you should replace “available for the masses” with available “to the middle classes” which may seem the same to the average HN reader but not the average inhabitant of our planet The statistics simply don't back you up, as not only do the middle classes make up the vast majority of people on the planet now, but those coming from poverty into the middle class is increasing. The much missed Hans Rosling goes through it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5JiYcV_mg6A https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5JiYcV_mg6A
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
pishpash 4y ago
That's the easy part.
jojobas 4y ago
When penicillin was just introduced a week's course was about $100,000 in today's money. Today its better derivatives are sometimes given away for free.
- chasil 4y ago
  That particular problem was solved by a mold-covered cantaloupe from Peoria, Illinois. "After a worldwide search in 1943, a mouldy cantaloupe in a Peoria, Illinois market was found to contain the best strain of mould for production using the corn steep liquor process." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penecillin https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penecillin
  - jojobas 4y ago
    The cantaloupe strain alone was not enough to make mass-production feasible. The process took years of refinement to take it where we are now.
    - chasil 4y ago
      Reviewing a larger section of the wiki, the Peoria cantelope certainly seems to have helped. "On March 14, 1942, the first patient was treated for streptococcal sepsis with US-made penicillin produced by Merck & Co. Half of the total supply produced at the time was used on that one patient, Anne Miller. By June 1942, just enough US penicillin was available to treat ten patients. In July 1943, the War Production Board drew up a plan for the mass distribution of penicillin stocks to Allied troops fighting in Europe. The results of fermentation research on corn steep liquor at the NRRL allowed the United States to produce 2.3 million doses in time for the invasion of Normandy in the spring of 1944. After a worldwide search in 1943, a mouldy cantaloupe in a Peoria, Illinois market was found to contain the best strain of mould for production using the corn steep liquor process. Pfizer scientist Jasper H. Kane suggested using a deep-tank fermentation method for producing large quantities of pharmaceutical-grade penicillin. Large-scale production resulted from the development of a deep-tank fermentation plant by chemical engineer Margaret Hutchinson Rousseau. As a direct result of the war and the War Production Board, by June 1945, over 646 billion units per year were being produced."

This is very good news for the wealthy, not so much for the average Joe - it will take a lot of time for this treatment to become cheap enough to be used at scale.

culopatin 4y ago

It’s still good news for average joe because at least there is something to look forward to.

danuker 4y ago
Reminds me of this story: https://spellbinders.org/the-smell-of-baking-bread/ https://spellbinders.org/the-smell-of-baking-bread/ The smell of bread in this story is the knowledge that treatment exists.
- xattt 4y ago
  What is the sound of jingling money in this story?
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
  - danuker 4y ago
    I guess, ad impressions on the site you've seen the news about the treatment.

vtail 4y ago

On the contrary, it’s a very, very good news for an average Joe. Every sufficiently advanced technology starts very expensive. Then capitalism and progress do their job, and it becomes available for masses. The path to “make it cheaper” is generally easier than the path to “make it possible”.

marricks 4y ago
Couple points: - MRNA COVID vaccine patents weren’t open sourced or available for the third world but Cuba’s vaccine solutions are - simple things like dental care aren’t offered in the US I think you should replace “available for the masses” with available “to the middle classes” which may seem the same to the average HN reader but not the average inhabitant of our planet
- Firmwarrior 4y ago
  Good news: We cured cancer Bad news: Some people are still poor
  - smallnix 4y ago
    Good news: We will cure some people with cancer Bad news: We will not cure some people with cancer
    - praveen9920 4y ago
      Good news: We will cure some rich people with cancer Bad news: We will kill some rich people with cancer
  - marricks 4y ago
    I was directly calling out the bold and wrong claim that “it will be available for the masses” because that is entirely wrong. If I get cancer 10 years from now I could be in luck! But it doesn’t mean I should immediately assume everyone else is.
  - Tozen 4y ago
    Good news: We found new alternative methods to treat cancer Bad news: You need to be very rich and very lucky
- brigandish 4y ago
  > I think you should replace “available for the masses” with available “to the middle classes” which may seem the same to the average HN reader but not the average inhabitant of our planet The statistics simply don't back you up, as not only do the middle classes make up the vast majority of people on the planet now, but those coming from poverty into the middle class is increasing. The much missed Hans Rosling goes through it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5JiYcV_mg6A https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5JiYcV_mg6A

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

pishpash 4y ago

That's the easy part.

jojobas 4y ago

When penicillin was just introduced a week's course was about $100,000 in today's money. Today its better derivatives are sometimes given away for free.

chasil 4y ago
That particular problem was solved by a mold-covered cantaloupe from Peoria, Illinois. "After a worldwide search in 1943, a mouldy cantaloupe in a Peoria, Illinois market was found to contain the best strain of mould for production using the corn steep liquor process." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penecillin https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penecillin
- jojobas 4y ago
  The cantaloupe strain alone was not enough to make mass-production feasible. The process took years of refinement to take it where we are now.
  - chasil 4y ago
    Reviewing a larger section of the wiki, the Peoria cantelope certainly seems to have helped. "On March 14, 1942, the first patient was treated for streptococcal sepsis with US-made penicillin produced by Merck & Co. Half of the total supply produced at the time was used on that one patient, Anne Miller. By June 1942, just enough US penicillin was available to treat ten patients. In July 1943, the War Production Board drew up a plan for the mass distribution of penicillin stocks to Allied troops fighting in Europe. The results of fermentation research on corn steep liquor at the NRRL allowed the United States to produce 2.3 million doses in time for the invasion of Normandy in the spring of 1944. After a worldwide search in 1943, a mouldy cantaloupe in a Peoria, Illinois market was found to contain the best strain of mould for production using the corn steep liquor process. Pfizer scientist Jasper H. Kane suggested using a deep-tank fermentation method for producing large quantities of pharmaceutical-grade penicillin. Large-scale production resulted from the development of a deep-tank fermentation plant by chemical engineer Margaret Hutchinson Rousseau. As a direct result of the war and the War Production Board, by June 1945, over 646 billion units per year were being produced."