Hear me out, measles can cause immune system amnesia. People with autoimmune disorders have immune systems that want to kill them. What if we use the immune system amnesia property of measles to reset the immune system of people suffering with autoimmune disorders? Maybe we could do some crispr on the measles virus to make it not as dangerous or something like that first though.

    • jol@discuss.tchncs.de
      3·
      10 hours ago

      It sounds like a really smart question. Most people have no idea how measles, or any virus, works.

    • LousyCornMuffins@lemmy.worldEnglish
      5·
      21 hours ago

      i mean, do we really understand the mechanism by which measles does the reset all that well? that’s my first question, but you know.

      • spankinspinach@sh.itjust.works
        3·
        17 hours ago

        I think this is the primary question before anything else. Can you reliably replicate the immune system reset across multiple test subjects without/while limiting adverse consequences (e.g., completely destroying someone’s immune system permanently)?

        • LousyCornMuffins@lemmy.worldEnglish
          2·
          16 hours ago

          yeah it’s one of those experiments that is ethically difficult to set up without an ongoing outbreak. intentionally exposing test subjects to measles sounds like an IRB nightmare.