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By Category: Policy & Initiatives

Flu Research Moratorium Should Continue, Fauci Says

(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 »

For better or worse

(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 »

Bird Flu Research Risks

(New York Times) To the Editor: Re “The Latest on the Doomsday Virus” (editorial, April 22): The decision by the National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity to reverse its previously unanimous recommendation to restrict publication of H5N1 bird flu experiments is understandable. Reassurance from one scientist involved in the work that the virus wasn’t so  Read More »

Senate Cmte. Examines Biological Security and Dual-Use Research

(C-SPAN) The Senate Homeland Security Committee held a hearing on dual-use research and how it can be used for bioterrorism. In recent years, concerns over dual-use research, which can be used for both beneficial scientific and medical purposes and bioterrorism, have grown due to advances in biotechnology that allow us create synthetic viruses in the  Read More »

SENSENBRENNER: Preventing release of lethal science

(Washington Times) Government needs plans for locking down research sought by terrorists By Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner Jr. When researchers used federal funding to genetically mutate the lethal H5N1 bird flu virus to make it capable of respiratory transmission between ferrets, the U.S. government was caught flat-footed on how to proceed with this potentially dangerous  Read More »

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