On Tuesday, the National Institutes of Health in
Maryland is holding a second day of talks about whether and how to continue
funding some controversial scientific experiments.
Back in January, virologists agreed to
temporarily stop research that was creating new forms of bird flu, because
critics argued that the work was too dangerous. NIH officials are now seeking
input from scientists and the public about how to proceed.
Scientists, national security experts and public
health workers have come from all over — including places like the United
Kingdom, Hong Kong, Italy, Indonesia and Vietnam — to discuss thorny issues
raised by the research.
"The subject of this meeting literally
affects every individual in the world," noted Harvey Fineberg, president
of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies, who is helping to run
the conference. "Every citizen in every country has a stake in the
research that will or will not go forward with respect to these highly
pathogenic agents."
These pathogenic agents are altered forms of the
bird flu virus known as H5N1. H5N1 is widespread in poultry in parts of Asia
and the Middle East, but it rarely infects people. Over half of those who are
known to have gotten sick, however, have died.
Public health experts worry that the virus might
mutate, begin spreading from person to person, and start a pandemic. Last year,
NIH-funded researchers showed that certain genetic mutations could indeed make
H5N1 spread easily between ferrets, the lab stand-in for people.
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