Scientists Debate Whether New Man-Made Killer Virus Details Should Be Published

Scientists are a proud bunch, when they develop something new, they want to publish the results in scientific journals so everybody will know about it. To do so means prestige, accolades and career advancement. Unfortunately though, sometimes the things scientists discover could be harmful if used by people with nefarious purpose. Such is the case with a certain strain of the H5N1 bird flu. It doesn't occur in nature. It was in fact, created in a lab, and is far more deadly than any known naturally occurring virus of its kind, killing up to 60 percent of those that are infected. The problem is, according to Popular Science, the researchers want to publish details of how they did it.

The generalities of the study are already well known as the New England Journal of Medicine already published the results of the initial study, what's in question is whether the exact procedure the team, led by virologist Ron Fouchier of the Erasmus medical centre in the Netherlands, used to cause the virus to come about.

What's known thus far is that the team used the H5N1 strain that people around the world have heard of because it did occur in the natural environment and killed over six hundred people back in 1997. What Fouchier and his team did was coax the virus into mutating in different ways until they found a variety that appeared deadlier than the one they started with. Subsequent tests on animals showed it to be far more deadly than any other strain seen thus far.

The natural question many people may have is, why would research scientists try to create lethal viruses? The answer lies in the fact that it's the only way researchers have of taking the offensive against deadly viruses. If scientists waited until such deadly viruses mutated on their own in the wild, then began killing people, they wouldn't have much time to find a way to combat it. By creating such viruses in the lab, they are then able to work on ways to eradicate it should the need arise.

The problem, of course, comes about if other not-so-well intentioned researchers use what this team has learned to create a deadly virus as a weapon. Hence the debate about whether the results of such studies should be published. On the one hand, publishing them means there will be more researchers working on ways to kill such viruses, on the other though, are those that seek to cause harm.