Scientists to Pause Research on Deadly Strain of Bird Flu

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/21/science/scientists-to-pause-research-on-deadly-strain-of-bird-flu.html

by tokenadult • 15 years ago

31 8 15 years ago

rjurney• 15 years ago

On the one hand, this constitutes a weapon of mass destruction and should never be created by civilians in a lab.

On the other... if it is this easy to do, so that two virology teams can do it... then it needs to be done, somewhere. Is open academia that place?

I would imagine that knowing what genes need to mutate, that we could test for them to early detect an outbreak. Also, we could target anti-virals or other treatments against those segments.

Scary stuff.

UnFleshedOne• 15 years ago

Those things would only get more frequent and easier as the science progresses. I think the best shot to avoid a major disaster is to progress the science far and fast enough so that the consequences are not that severe. For example getting to a point where an "universal" antiviral agent (with an easy to update/modify "database" of targets) is possible.

JamesBlair• 15 years ago

Previous discussion: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3279225

jballanc3• 15 years ago

This is the worst possible outcome. If 10 passages through the lab animals was sufficient for the virus to become transmissible by air, then this will happen in nature. Not being able to share with other members of the world-wide flu monitoring network what they need to be watching for is irresponsible at best.

The fact that this variant of the virus was formed relatively easily, however, leads me to believe that there is a reason that it hasn't been found in the wild yet. It could be that transmission in ferrets is not exactly like transmission in humans. It could be that this variant is transmissible by air in a lab setting, but is critically vulnerable to environmental factors in the wild. Regardless of the explanation, there is something vital and important that can be learned through further research...

But OH NOES THE TERRERISTS!!!1!

You know, Caesar was just trying to protect Rome when the library in Alexandria burned. Those who have the most are willing to loose the least but, as they say, nothing ventured nothing gained...

The future of scientific progress no longer lies with the United States of America.

sliverstorm2• 15 years ago

You know, Caesar was just trying to protect Rome when the library in Alexandria burned.

Sorry, but what? What does the accidental burning of a library have to do with this?

jballanc3• 15 years ago

There is a real risk in putting national security above all else. Leaders often make the mistake of believing that those with the greatest military might succeed, when in fact it is those societies with the greatest technology that have always lead the world.

Scientists to Pause Research on Deadly Strain of Bird Flu

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