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<blockquote data-quote="Umbran" data-source="post: 6114310" data-attributes="member: 177">Reading up about the 1918 pandemic, no.&nbsp; That pandemic went in two waves, two slightly different strains.&nbsp; The first was mild, and in civilian life, selection favors a mild strain - if you get really sick, you stay at home.&nbsp; If you have only a mild sickness, you go out and to work and encounter more people - so the mild form spreads more easily.But there was something special in 1918 - WWI.&nbsp; In the trenches, those with mild flu stayed put.&nbsp; Those who got really sick got put on trains to crowded field hospitals.&nbsp;&nbsp; It was the very sick who got exposed to more people, so the deadly strain spread.&nbsp; Modern times still favor the mild strain, for the same reasons.&nbsp; We do travel faster, so nastier strains do get farther, but it isn't that we are selecting for them, merely selecting less strongly against them.Oh, and by the way, have you considered the risk factor to humans here?&nbsp; Yes, most of the time, if you remove an organism from its home environment, it doesn't do well.&nbsp; But, every once in a while, you'll find one that just coincidentally can live in the new environment.&nbsp; This is doubly so for microorganisms, that generally have less stringent requirements, and much faster generation times.&nbsp; You've read War of the Worlds, right?No it isn't.&nbsp; A modern mission to Mars is talking about sending two or four people, and not bringing them back.&nbsp; We are talking instead about sending a ship, landing it, picking up perhaps hundreds of alien individuals, and keeping them alive for a year and more for the trip back.&nbsp; The life-support requirements are much heavier.&nbsp; And you can presume that for this one, you don't get the Martians to help you refuel while you're on their planet...</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Umbran, post: 6114310, member: 177"] Reading up about the 1918 pandemic, no. That pandemic went in two waves, two slightly different strains. The first was mild, and in civilian life, selection favors a mild strain - if you get really sick, you stay at home. If you have only a mild sickness, you go out and to work and encounter more people - so the mild form spreads more easily. But there was something special in 1918 - WWI. In the trenches, those with mild flu stayed put. Those who got really sick got put on trains to crowded field hospitals. It was the very sick who got exposed to more people, so the deadly strain spread. Modern times still favor the mild strain, for the same reasons. We do travel faster, so nastier strains do get farther, but it isn't that we are selecting for them, merely selecting less strongly against them. Oh, and by the way, have you considered the risk factor to humans here? Yes, most of the time, if you remove an organism from its home environment, it doesn't do well. But, every once in a while, you'll find one that just coincidentally can live in the new environment. This is doubly so for microorganisms, that generally have less stringent requirements, and much faster generation times. You've read [I]War of the Worlds[/I], right? No it isn't. A modern mission to Mars is talking about sending two or four people, and not bringing them back. We are talking instead about sending a ship, landing it, picking up perhaps hundreds of alien individuals, and keeping them alive for a year and more for the trip back. The life-support requirements are much heavier. And you can presume that for this one, you don't get the Martians to help you refuel while you're on their planet... [/QUOTE]

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