Two studies, both written with the help of government funding, might be censored by the federal government. This is in the name of "national security" and on the concern that bioterrorists could use the information in scientific journals to produce an attack. Article resource:Federal government attempting to censor scientific journals
Genetic virus
The United States National Institutes of Health helped finance two studies intended to measure how easily H5N1 avian influenza transmits between individuals. Erasmus University Medical Centers in the Netherlands and at the University of Wisconsin both genetically engineered the flu virus in order to study what changes made the virus more or less transmittable, using ferrets to study the transmission. Diseases that transmit between ferrets easily typically transmit just as easily among humans. The genetically altered virus spread easily and easily through the air, making it considerably more virulent than the original H5N1 virus.
Requests for redaction
The United States National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity is worried about what will take place if the total research is published. Bioterrorists could very easily use the recipe to produce a bioweapon if they have the total formula. The NSABB is asking that the researchers edit out a ton of the research that is published to keep it from the public domain. The researchers are waiting for their study to be released in numerous scientific publications.
Massive controversy
"It is essential for public health that the full details of any scientific analysis of flu viruses be available to researchers," according to Nature’s editor-in-chief Dr. Philip Campbell in an interview with USA Today. He does not think that it is necessary to have that recommendation. The reason behind the journal is to talk about "appropriate access to the scientific methods and data could be enabled.”
Many individuals are debating the studies and whether or not they should be put in the publications while others are debating whether or not the research should have been done at all. Since the H5N1 virus is the worst version of avian influenza, it is dangerous on its own. It is even more dangerous when it has been genetically modified. It wouldn’t be hard for somebody to get access to the modified viruses since they are being kept at the universities without any guards.
Sources
<strong>Reuters:</strong> http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/12/20/us-birdflu-usa-censorship-idUSTRE7BJ1O720111220
<strong>Daily Mail UK:</strong> http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2076422/Bird-flu-potential-infect-millions-grown-DELIBERATELY-Dutch-laboratory.html
<strong>USA Today:</strong> http://yourlife.usatoday.com/health/story/2011-12-20/US-says-dont-publish-recipe-for-lab-bred-bird-flu/52109034/1
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