Dutch scientists who created a new, more contagious version of bird flu have agreed to hold back the full details of how they modified the original virus. However, they warn that working information has already been shared informally with hundreds of international researchers.
I've been following this story since the battle between scientific and sharing and safeguards against international terrorism hit the public airwaves. The scientists had planned to publish full working details of the mutation until U.S. bioterrorism officials objected.
The new version of the H5N1 strain of avian influenza one-ups the original version, which kills more than 60 per cent of its victims, by making it more contagious. The original bird flu requires physical contact to spread; the new version can be spread through the air much like a cold via sneezing and coughing.
The details of the Frankenstenian modification were to be published in the U.S. journal Science until the National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity stepped in. That launched a major "freedom of scientific information" vs. security uproar, a fight that still has some researchers disgruntled.
Study leader Ron Fouchier of the Erasmus Medical Center has said that the research is necessary to help develop a vaccine against bird flu. Security officials, however, have questioned why the research was done in an unguarded university setting.
Bird flu was discovered in Hong Kong one day after the censorship vs. safety issue broke into the news. Thousands of birds were killed and importation of chickens from China temporarily put on hold.
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