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Biotech

Vaccine to Prevent Killing Human Beings? 66

Posted by Cliff from the all-hail-the-reign-of-ye-implied-foot! dept.
jawahar asks: "I wanted to ask Slashdot whether it is possible and desirable to develop a vaccine which, when consumed, prevents a human being from intentionally killing a fellow human being. How much funding is required to develop and distribute such a vaccine?"
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Vaccine to Prevent Killing Human Beings? More

Vaccine to Prevent Killing Human Beings?

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  • Sorry, I don't think empathy comes in pills.

  • Riiiight.... (Score:3)

    by walt-sjc ( 145127 ) on Friday April 01, 2005 @12:53PM (#12111665)
    April fools question obviously.

    How about nanotech that prevents stupid "ask slashdot" questions or dupe posts?

  • ENOUGH ALREADY! (Score:5, Insightful)

    by sebFlyte ( 844277 ) on Friday April 01, 2005 @12:53PM (#12111669) Homepage Journal
    *points at subject*

    *waves angrily*

    *stamps feet*

    *sighs*

    *sits down*

    *sips martini*
    *calms down*

  • Already available (Score:3, Funny)

    by crow ( 16139 ) on Friday April 01, 2005 @12:55PM (#12111689) Homepage Journal
    It's already available. It's called cyanide. Upon consuming a sufficient dose, the subject will never intentionally kill anyone.
  • The stupidity of this 1 April's /. stories is making me want to kill all the authors who created such garbage, and the editors who are approving it.

    Perhaps funding on such a vaccine should be increased.

  • First check the definition of vaccine [answers.com]. Then you will see that vaccine is not the word you are looking for.

    Less pedantically however, the answer is no. Right now, no amount of funding could produce such a thing. I cite no sources. It is immediately and intuitively obvious.

    Glad I could clear that up.
    • However, it may be possible to make a shot that when given to an infant will kill all their eggs/remove their sperm producing capacity. No more procreation will (eventually) lead to no more death....

    • Re:No. (Score:1)

      by Mr Z ( 6791 )

      Well, I suppose if you could identify some psychoactive chemical that you could trick your immune system into generating as an antibody, and then construct an artificial pathogen to stimulate production of said antibody, it might almost be a vaccine.... if you squint, tilt your head sideways and glance at it just so. :-)

      The question though just sounds like something out of Clockwork Orange. Bah. Yay 01-Apr-2005.

      --Joe
  • why dont we just implant shock-collar like things into people that react to thoughts of evil-doing. that way whenever people think about hurting someone they'll get a nice big shock, kinda like cartman and his implanted v-chip. and then we can just start breeding it out of our kida through gene therapy? and eventually why not instead of giving birth or even conceiving people we'll breed and grow them so they wont ever have any 'wrong' thoughts or concept of evil. we'll even make them all look the same a
  • They're called cyanide tablets and they will remove your ability to kill another human being quite effectively.
  • If you are trying to prevent person A from killing person B, simply preemptively kill person A. No drugs needed, just cleanup and pinning the blame somewhere.... It works for the US government!

    Yeah, I'm a sick bastard sometimes. This question sounds like something from a 50s sci-fi or something. I honestly don't think it's possible to turn off something as complicated as a desire to kill with some kind of hormone or inhibitor though.

    Happy fools!

  • but I hope there are vaccines to prevent intentionally killing jokes.

    Seriously, I'm already fed up with the supposed jokes of today, but this must be the lamest of the lame.

    • I have an itunes playlist to play "killing joke" if that would help

      ofcourse you do realise the irony of "killing jokes" in a joke story about preventing killing dont you ;)
  • I believe the medical term for a person such vaccinated is "A Clockwork Orange"..
  • And I mean the book not watch the movie. Threat of violence is that keeps not just people in line, but their governments. That's why the 2nd amendment exists. Should there ever come a time when we have to take up arms to throw out a dictator.

    Painting with a broad brush, in pre-Meiji Era (1868-1912) in Japan if you were impolite you could have your head lopped off. Similar to the Old West of the United States and at least one episode of Blake's Seven.

    A society of Sheeple would not be desirable.

  • Such a vaccine already exists.

    It's called, "Hemlock." Large amounts of "Draino", "Cyanide," "Autoerotic Asphyxiation" and "Jumping in front of a bus" have also proven effective in clinical trials.

    This vaccine and its substitutes work by the voluntary self-imposition of a disruption to the human condition on an individual level -- after all, logic holds that an individual who is not living cannot kill another human being. When properly self-administered, (that is, the patient does not plant a bomb before
  • Rape, pillage, murder all you want. What we NEED is a vaccine to prevent lame humor on /. on April 1st. This is weak even compared to past years.

    It seems like every year they turn over editorial duties to 6-year-olds. Next thing we'll see dupes of April Fool's pieces.

    And, yes, I am complaining and being mean, if the editors don't like it, then they should quit their jobs. In the words of Stu Hamm: If you're scared, stay home!

  • Just don't play [slashdot.org] anymore videogames [slashdot.org]
  • Unfortunately, I forgot the title, but a rough synopsis...

    A scientist invents a thing called "Viral Construct" (hereinafter, "VC")and tries it on himself. He runs into a friend in a bar who is already slightly tipsy, and the friend takes it, too. The friend goes home and sleeps for 3 days straight, but wakes up feeling astonishingly good. The scientist is dead - it turns out because he didn't let himself sleep the 3 days straight, but forced a normal waking schedule. Kind of an odd, silly, unlikely beginni
    • "What's So Bad About Feeling Good?" Seen it, It was reversed in "28 days later". They had a Toucan in it, Was that Toucan, Son of Sam?

      CEREAL KILLER

      Follow your nose, it always knows the flavor of death where ever it goes,

      Terror in the supermarket, shoppers are in horror,

      Shredded boxes in the aisles, corpses on the floor,

      Those who ran, this joy is mine, now they're going to pay,

      Super gory slaughter now the order of the day!

      Toucan Son of Sam!!

      Silly rabbit, Trix are for kids.

      Follow your nose, it al

  • Use dihydrogen oxide. That will do the trick. Administered in very small quantities into the lungs, or in large quantities through injection, it can render any human being incapable of any action...including murder.
  • It's an "injection" you get in the PYITA prison.

  • Question is too broad (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Brandybuck ( 704397 ) on Friday April 01, 2005 @04:31PM (#12114253) Homepage Journal
    I know this is April Fool, but let's explore the question anyway. Some people have asked this question in other forms before, and meant it seriously. There's usually a political motive behind it, such as "if we could we could stop war", or "if we could then we could immediately enact this utopian society I came up with while drinking absinthe."

    The question is too broad (or the asker's mind too narrow). Is it allowable to kill another human being in the course of self-defense? Or use both your brain cells to figure this one out: what if you could save the lives of two people by killing their imminent assassin?

    Write these questions large. If the purpose is to stop war, what do you do when an unvaccinated army comes invading? Do you take up arms in defense to save your fellow vaccinated citizens? Or do you comfort yourself on your deathbed knowing that although you could have prevented ten million deaths, at least the Halkan Council will remember you kindly?

    Here's another one. What if Judge Greer had been vaccinated? Would he have been able to order the removal of Terry's feeding tube? Or what about abortion? Really think about that last one. If you don't believe that the fetus is a human being, then the vaccine won't prevent you from performing an abortion. But if you do believe that the fetus is a human being, it will. Follow that logic and you'll soon discover that the vaccine will not prevent any killing that the killer can mentally justify. What if the only thing preventing the killing is the killer's *belief* that he is not killing?
    • Like the Sword of Truth--no matter how hard you try, it will not harm that which the wielder does not believe needs harming. Goodkind explored this aspect of its power, but IMHO never took that route as far as I would have liked.
  • ...because these April Fools articles are making people want to do exactly what the said vaccine cures.
  • If it were somehow possible to chemically inhibit the aggression regions of the brain, then yes, this would be possible.

    Unfortunately, lowering the levels of certain neurotransmitters implicated in aggressive behaviors would ultimatley kill the person: the same chemicals are needed for many other, very important brain functions.
  • Wasn't there a movie [imdb.com] about this?
  • A pill that makes people super-lazy could do the trick. An extremely lazy person would be too lazy to intentionally kill other human beings. But people would die of starvation because they would be too lazy to eat.

  • Government will not allow a happy populace to exist.

    • Why is marijuana illegal in many countries?
      Because users are happy and non-violent.
    • Why is sex criminalized in so much of the world?
      Because sexual satisfaction leads to a happy, productive, and inventive populace.
    • Why does male-oriented rule exist in the majority of the world?
      Because males outnumber females. Simple.

      Happy people do not war and strengthen government.

    Males are physically stronger than females. In this Age, this allows male testo

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