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THE US GOVERNMENT has asked two highly-respected scientific journals to censor their reports on experiments to create a man-made version of bird flu.
The journals Nature and Science have been asked to publish only redacted versions of studies carried out by groups in the US and the Netherlands on creating an artificial strain of the H5N1 strain of influenza.
The two groups, Reuters reports, had engineered forms of the virus that were shown to be highly contagious between ferrets – considered a good indication of whether the virus could be similarly easy to pass between humans.
This would be a worrysome development, if the technology fell into the wrong hands, as currently there is no strain of the virus which can be easily passed between humans. Currently, humans can only contract the deadly virus from infected birds.
The US’s National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity (NSABB) said the study was the first example of one that falls under its “dual use” rules – studies which could be used for bioterrorism as well as for healthcare provision.
Due to the importance of the findings to the public health and research communities, the NSABB recommended that the general conclusions highlighting the novel outcome be published, but that the manuscripts not include the methodological and other details that could enable replication of the experiments by those who would seek to do harm.The NSABB also recommended that language be added to the manuscripts to explain better the goals and potential public health benefits of the research, and to detail the extensive safety and security measures taken to protect laboratory workers and the public.
The decision will be passed onto the journals by the US Department of Health and Human Services, but the decision is non-binding.
The two journals are objecting to the request, arguing that withholding the information would be detrimental to the greater good of public health.
Nature editor Dr Philip Campbell said it was “essential for public health that the full details of any scientific analysis of flu viruses be available to researchers.”
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Why the f**k do they need to invent this muck… I am sure enough films have covered this topic to put the shivers down anybodies spine. Is this to be our demise… Global death by man made bird flu…
How irresponsible…
Sounds like scaremongering by the us again. Terrorists creating the flu. Do the American public realist we don’t live in a bond movie. America’s current terrorists live in caves and shanty towns. Their weapons are old and their bombs are hand made from kitchen products and manure. Hi tech and secret labs is more America style, if they are do worried about it getting into the wrong hands the solution is very simple DON’T MAKE IT IN THE FIRST PLACE!
Excuse typos
Caves and shanty towns, seriously? The 7/7 bombers, Richard Reid and all the rest of those people lived in cities and towns. The weapons that terrorist groups vary from the crap that al-Shabab give children to up to date weaponry used elsewhere. The bombs might be made in a kitchen but they are no less effective. It’s this sort of thinking that is endemic in the US and as a result has produced a disastrous foreign and military policy. Far from being found in a cave OBL was found in a nice house in a suburb in Pakistan.
While I wouldn’t think that bio weapons are an immediate threat from a terrorist group all you need is someone with a Phd and access to the equipment and then we’re all knackered. Although I do agree with you that it is in the US Governments interest to scare the shit out of everyone otherwise how could they justify giving billions to their buddies in the military/industrial complex.
“Naturally, the common people don’t want war; neither in Russia nor in England nor in America, nor for that matter in Germany. That is understood. But, after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy or a fascist dictatorship or a Parliament or a Communist dictatorship. …voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is to tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same way in any country.”
Hermann Göring. Nuremberg.
@Brian … frightening, but alas true. Worth remembering that a prime source of terrorism in the US and in Europe is of the home-grown variety. Recent experience in Norway, Germany and Italy demonstrates what happens when state security ignores the home-grown terrorists.
Indeed Desmond, this is actually part of a strategy that has been promoted in “Inspire” , the online magazine of AQAP. They provided instructions for bomb making and specifically asked volunteers not to travel foreign countries but to carry out operations in their own countries instead. A home-grown terrorist attack is much more effective than a foreign based one.
Chemical warfare isn’t as easy as build a virus and release it. For a “terrorist” to build this from scratch he or she would need a dedicated lab and equipment to pull it off. The kind that is either too highly monitored for anyone to just walk out of with a deadly virus or too far from the intended target. Making a strain of virus widely known to the scientific community isn’t giving Bin Laden’s ghost the tools for revenge, it’s giving scientists the tools they need to potentially develop new medicines and vaccines.
Why don’t these people work on coming up with vaccines for existing flus and diseases rather than creating new ones?
Building “new” viruses is part and parcel of finding cures for “existing” ones.
Because they are think of new ways to kill off there own population.
I don’t believe that the majority of governments would plan to kill off their own population. Without taxpayers you can’t have tax revenue. Stupidity occurs more often than malignancy…
It’s our own governments we should be afraid off.
V for vandetta
Just ask Baxter. Digging up the remains of the 1919 flu victims and extracting the virus doesnt help. But wait, didnt they sell us €80 million worth of vaccines? How did they…oh I see.
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