BSL-4 Lab Worker - Photo Credit –USAMRIID
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Via Science Magazine’s Insider coverage, we get a lengthy interview (translated & edited for clarity and brevity) with Erasmus University Flu researcher Ron Fouchier, whose revelations of creating a transmissible form of H5N1 at a scientific conference last September has unleashed a firestorm of debate.
Earlier today he, along with 38 other prominent flu researchers, agreed to a 60 day moratorium on controversial genetic research on the H5N1 virus to to `allow time for international discussion.’
As you’ll read, this debate has badly polarized scientists and policy makers. Follow the link to read:
Flu Researcher Ron Fouchier: 'It's a Pity That It Has to Come to This'
by Martin Enserink on 20 January 2012, 3:42 PM |
In a statement posted today on the Web sites of Nature and Science, a group of 39 influenza researchers announced a 2-month moratorium on studies that make the avian influenza strain H5N1 more transmissible between mammals. The moratorium is intended to allow time for an international debate about this type of research, which some people say has the potential to help bioterrorists.
To prevent this from becoming a one-sided debate (both sides are raising valid & important issues), you’ll find opposing views expressed in a series of opinion pieces published yesterday in Public Health, Biosecurity, and H5N1 via Science Magazine’s Science Express.
You’ll also find a series of news articles that cover this ongoing controversy, along with a link to Science’s Special Online Collection: Influenza page at THIS LINK.
For background on this growing controversy, you may wish to revisit these earlier blogs:
Nature: 10 Expert Opinions On The H5N1 Research Dilemma
WHO To Take Role In Sorting Out Bird Flu Research Controversies
The Furor Over H5N1 Research Continues
