Recent News

(CIDRAP News) The Dutch government has granted virologist Ron Fouchier, PhD, an export license that allows him to submit his much-debated H5N1 transmissibility paper to Science, according to a ScienceInsider report published today. “Now we can move on,” Fouchier told ScienceInsider. His report details how he and his colleagues developed an H5N1 virus capable of  Read More »

(Science AAAS) AMSTERDAM—The Dutch government has given virologist Ron Fouchier of Erasmus MC an export license for his controversial H5N1 transmissibility study, allowing Fouchier to send a revised manuscript of his paper to Science. The license “is in my inbox,” says Fouchier. “Now we can move on.” The decision by Henk Bleker, minister for agriculture  Read More »

(Nature.com) The Dutch government has agreed to grant an export license to allow Ron Fouchier, a virologist at the Erasmus Medical University in Rotterdam, to publish his work on H5N1 avian influenza in Science. Fouchier’s paper is one of two reporting the creation of forms of the H5N1 virus capable of spreading between mammals. The  Read More »

(Science Now) Although the contention over whether to publish two controversial H5N1 avian influenza studies appears to be waning, researchers should continue to abide by a voluntary moratorium on certain types of studies involving the virus, a senior U.S. science official said today. There should be “an extension on the moratorium,” which was originally supposed  Read More »

(Nature.com) Frank debate is needed about the balance between beneficial and detrimental uses of research. Scientists must be the first to open discussions. Many bench scientists are just too caught up in their research to consider its ethical possibilities, and very few want to take the time to rigorously explore them. However, the controversy over  Read More »