Controversial bird flu experiments produced no killer virus, scientists say - The Washington Post http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/controversial-bird-flu-experiments-produced-no-killer-virus-scientists-say/2012/04/03/gIQAFBV7tS_story.html?wpisrc=nl_politics
RRD:My reaction to this is mixed.On the one hand this experiment is very easy to parody as a mad scientist saying in effect:"We've been worried that Bird Flu can be passed person to person,that hasn't happened in nature,so let's create the very thing we are worried about!"
On the other I can see that there is a legitimate scientific purpose to these kind of experiments,even if they had been more dangerous than now appears.One advantage of the oft-maligned genre of Science Fiction is that it can,in effect,safely explore the dangers and consequences of these kind of experiments.However any research that is done which could create a deadly pathogen should be carried out under the strictest security procedures,and the pathogens should be destroyed as soon as the experiments are finished.
RRD:My reaction to this is mixed.On the one hand this experiment is very easy to parody as a mad scientist saying in effect:"We've been worried that Bird Flu can be passed person to person,that hasn't happened in nature,so let's create the very thing we are worried about!"
On the other I can see that there is a legitimate scientific purpose to these kind of experiments,even if they had been more dangerous than now appears.One advantage of the oft-maligned genre of Science Fiction is that it can,in effect,safely explore the dangers and consequences of these kind of experiments.However any research that is done which could create a deadly pathogen should be carried out under the strictest security procedures,and the pathogens should be destroyed as soon as the experiments are finished.
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