[guide.chat] news mutant flu
- From: vanessa <qwerty1234567a@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: "GUIDE CHAT" <guide.chat@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 28 Jan 2012 18:02:52 -0000
Research into mutant flu 'must go on'
Scientist dismisses US group's fear that creation of airborne H5N1 virus could
inspire bio-terrorism
STEVE CONNOR SATURDAY 28 JANUARY 2012
One of the scientists at the centre of the controversy over the creation a
highly dangerous form of bird flu which could cause a devastating human
pandemic has denounced attempts by the US Government to censor the research
over fears that the findings might be misused by bioterrorists.
Yoshihiro Kawaoka, virologist at the universities of Tokyo and Wisconsin
Madison, said that the recommendations of the US National Science Advisory
Board for Biosecurity are unworkable and would make it harder for legitimate
scientists to develop vaccines and drugs against new strains of pandemic flu.
Professor Kawaoka leads one of the two teams of scientists that have created
?airborne? strains of the H5N1 bird flu virus that can be transmitted in coughs
and sneezes between laboratory ferrets, the standard animal ?model? of human
influenza.
The second team, led by Ron Fouchier of the Erasmus Medical Centre in
Rotterdam, has achieved similar results using a different technique, and has
also criticised the biosecurity board?s recommendations.
The board, composed of leading US scientists, fears that details of the two
studies, which have been both accepted for publication, one by the journal
Nature and the other by Science, could be used by bioterrorists or a rogue
state to develop ?weaponised? versions of the H5N1 bird flu virus to cause a
highly lethal pandemic.
In the limited number of cases where H5N1 has already passed by direct contact
from poultry to humans, it has killed about 60 per cent of the people it has
infected. If it mutated into a highly transmissible virus, it easily could
become one the most dangerous viruses in history.
Some scientists have even questioned the need to conduct the experiments, which
involved the deliberate mutation of the H5N1 bird flu in order to make it
airborne transmissible between the laboratory ferrets.
However, Professor Kawaoka has now broken his long silence over the affair in a
commentary article in the journal Nature where he strongly justifies the need
for such research, while at the same time condemning the recommendation of the
US biosecurity board to censor key details of the research.
?To date, H5N1 viruses have not been transmitted between humans. Some experts
have argued that it is impossible. But given the potential consequences of a
global outbreak, it is crucial to know whether these viruses can ever become
transmissible,? Professor Kawaoka says.
?Some people have argued that the risks of such studies ? misuse and accidental
release for example ? outweigh the benefits. I counter that H5N1 viruses
circulating in nature already pose a threat, because influenza viruses mutate
constantly and can cause pandemics with great loss of life,? he says.
The US biosecurity board argues that partial redaction of key details of the
research would make it harder for bioterrorists to misuse the information, but
Professor Kawaoka insists that there is already enough information within the
pubic domain to allow knowledgeable people to make a transmissible form of the
bird flu virus if they want to.
He also says that the mechanism suggested by the biosecurity board to allow
vetted scientists to have access to the data is unwieldy and unworkable because
it would require security background checks on thousands of researchers from
around the world.
?The redaction of our manuscript, intended to contain risk, will make it harder
for legitimate scientists to get this information while failing to provide a
barrier to those who would do harm,? Professor Kawaoka says.
All scientists involved in H5N1 research have agreed to voluntary 60-day
moratorium until an international meeting is convened to discuss ways around
the problem. Professor Kawaoka says that this could lead to a solution to the
problem of ?duel use? biotechnology.
Professor Kawaoka, who did not reply to requests from The Independent, has told
the journal Science that he was prohibited from discussing questions with the
general media by Nature, which has accepted his scientific paper for
publication.
?The journal advised me to avoid talking to the media until the paper was
published. Without being ale to describe our findings, I cannot address fully
the issues the media want to discuss,? Professor Kawaoka told Science.
Professor Fouchier, meanwhile, said that he could not respond to questions from
The Independent until he was cleared to do so from the journal Science, which
has accepted his scientific paper for publication.
from
Vanessa The Google Girl.
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