1/31/12:
Excerpt:
The experts on the panel wrote that while the H5N1 situation is unprecedented, scientists have been concerned for years about the potential for deliberate misuse of biological research to cause harm -- especially research into dangerous microbial pathogens like the avian flu. But, they added, "Until now, these efforts have suffered from a lack of specificity and a paucity of concrete examples.... We are now confronted by a potent, real-world example."
Because H5N1 was able to be transmitted easily between mammals and retained its deadliness, "we could face an epidemic of substantial proportions," they noted. Before this work, no one was sure if such a highly-transmissible strain could develop. Now they know it can -- and thus the panel decided that the risks of publishing detailed results outweigh the benefits.
The goal now will be for scientists, government and others to forge a way forward, the authors wrote. "Now that this information is known, society can take steps globally to prepare for when nature might generate such a virus spontaneously," they said.
"The life sciences have reached a crossroads," they wrote, much like the one physicists faced as they researched nuclear weapons and biologists faced in the 1970s when recombinant DNA technologies came into use.
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