US silences scientists over man-made super flu that could 'change world history' - Polidicks

[img]http://resources2.news.com.au/cs/newscomau/v2/_shared/base/css/images/icons/homepage-title.png[/img] Source: [url]http://www.news.com.au/technology/sci-tech/push-to-silence-scientists-over-man-made-super-flu-that-could-kill-half-the-planet/story-fn5fsgyc-1226227455717[/url] [img]http://resources0.news.com.au/images/2011/12/21/1226227/477484-super-virus.jpg[/img] Deadly threat: The avian influenza virus. Picture: Supplied Source: Supplied [release][B]THE US government paid scientists to figure out how the deadly bird flu virus could mutate to become a bigger threat to humans, then demanded virologists researching their work don't release full details of their success.[/B] It has been revealed two labs succeeded in creating new strains of H5N1 that are easier to spread. "I can't think of another pathogenic organism that is as scary as this one," US National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity (NSABB) chair Paul Keim [url=http://news.sciencemag.org/scienceinsider/2011/11/scientists-brace-for-media-storm.html?ref=hp]told Science back in November[/url]. "I don't think anthrax is scary at all compared to this." At the time, Science described the new strain as a virus "that could change world history if it were ever set free". It had been genetically altered so it could be transferred easily between ferrets, the animals which most closely mimic human response to flu. Passing the flu from one ferret to another, the team discovered the H5N1 strain mutated into an airborne virus. Until now, that was the key factor in the virus limited it to something unlikely to cause a pandemic. This morning, the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) took the unprecedented step of asking two teams researching the new virus not to publicise all the details of how it was created. They admit the research had lots of potential to help the public, but feared it might also be hijacked by would-be bioterrorists. The teams that wrote papers about the new virus reluctantly agreed to redact data from manuscripts to be submitted to scientific journals Science and Nature for publication. "It wasn't an easy decision," said Dr Anthony Fauci, infectious diseases chief at the National Institutes of Health, which funded the original research. A statement from the NSABB recommended "that the general conclusions highlighting the novel outcome be published, but that the manuscripts not include the methodological and other details that could enable replication of the experiments by those who would seek to do harm". Editor-in-chief of Nature, Dr Philip Campbell, said he understood the motivation behind the redaction, but it was "essential for public health that the full details of any scientific analysis of flu viruses be available to researchers". [B]Lethal strains[/B] The H5N1 strain of bird flu is fatal in 60 per cent of human cases but only 350 people have so far died from the disease, largely because it cannot - yet - be transmitted between humans. Editors from the journals Science and Nature said they were considering the US government's request. Science editor-in-chief Bruce Alberts said scientists could benefit from knowing about the virus because it could help speed new treatments to combat this and other related lethal forms of influenza. "Many scientists within the influenza community have a bona fide need to know the details of this research in order to protect the public, especially if they currently are working with related strains of the virus," he wrote. "Science editors will be evaluating how best to proceed," he added, asking for more clarification on how the government would make the information available to "all those responsible scientists who request it." [B]Human-to-human[/B] The Dutch research team was led by Ron Fouchier at Rotterdam's Erasmus Medical Centre. The team said in September it had created a mutant version of the H5N1 bird flu virus that could for the first time be spread among mammals. Fouchier said in a statement his team had discovered that transmission of the virus was possible between humans "and can be carried out more easily than we thought."[/release]

Looks like they didn't do a very good job silencing it because it made headlines.

Not seeing anything wrong with this really.

Holy shit hurry up and destroy that

[QUOTE=Cheshire_cat;33821216]Not seeing anything wrong with this really.[/QUOTE] As long as it's not somehow released.

[QUOTE=Boba_Fett;33821215]Looks like they didn't do a very good job silencing it because it made headlines.[/QUOTE] The first line... Did you even read the first line? [quote]then demanded virologists researching their work [B]don't release full details[/B] of their success.[/quote]

if the point is to cure it, ok but even still [h2]BURN IT NOW[/h2]

Not gonna be suprised if someone "magically" catches this flu, then it spreads. Then apocalypse, I saw this on a History Channel documentary.

They don't want the full details released so nobody can use it as a weapon.

Shit like this really shouldn't be experimented with, what if it happens to get out? Sorry but I find this to be a giant waste of funds.

And then someone in the Middle East catches it :v:

[QUOTE=asteroidrules;33821312]They don't want the full details released so nobody can use it as a weapon.[/QUOTE] Pretty much this. It's pretty stupid to think that the US would use it as some "Apocalypse weapon".

[QUOTE=Boba_Fett;33821215]Looks like they didn't do a very good job silencing it because it made headlines.[/QUOTE] That's not what they meant by 'silence'. I was hoping they would do this when we first heard about it. Now figure out how to kill it/cure it and destroy every last strain.

[QUOTE=Angry Pineapple;33821323]Shit like this really shouldn't be experimented with, what if it happens to get out? Sorry but I find this to be a giant waste of funds.[/QUOTE]Why not? They develop these superbugs to develop a cure for any naturally arising mutation, or in the case there is a man made outbreak.

Simply having something like that in existence is a potential threat to everyone, no matter how secure they may think it is. While it is useful to study and analyze, I think it would be best if it were destroyed.

Kill this shit right now, holy god damn.

[QUOTE=ExplodingGuy;33821354]Why not? They develop these superbugs to develop a cure for any naturally arising mutation, or in the case there is a man made outbreak.[/QUOTE] Sure that's a plus of it, but again, just the fact that it is in existence is a bit unsettling. Of course the chance of it getting out is relatively low, but still.

[QUOTE=Noth;33821245]The first line... Did you even read the first line?[/QUOTE] They can block the details all they want, but when you announce that you've made a virus that can kill the entire human race, you're not exactly being covert.

Been here before. The viral strains already have the components that can mutate and become extremely deadly. Withholding the methodological data is pointless because it can easily transposed into this instance. Hell, I'll post a step by step guide to doing it: 1) Procure the H5N1 virus. 2) Infect a lot of chickens. 3) Get a bunch of ferrets and maximize their contact with infectious agents until the virus spreads. 4) Kill heaps of ferrets and observe until it becomes airborne. 5) Now do step 3 but with humans. This isn't the most efficient way to do it, and fortunately most organizations with the resources to procure H5N1 aren't too fond of killing billions of people, but even so, it's not exactly nuclear engineering. Which is [B]precisely[/B] why a vaccine should be of immense importance.

If it gets out, im moving to madagascar.

[QUOTE=JoeSkylynx;33821327]And then someone in the Middle East catches it :v:[/QUOTE] Which will obviously be a total accident...and the US will be forced to come there with doctors...armed with M16s. For peace.

i'm more alarmed at the fact that the United States paid researchers to work on discovering a plague that could destroy humanity am i the only one that finds that fucked up

[QUOTE=Fourm Shark;33821315]Thread music [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBY7FnkNI4c[/media][/QUOTE] :tinfoil:

[QUOTE=Kopimi;33822112]i'm more alarmed at the fact that the United States paid researchers to work on discovering a plague that could destroy humanity am i the only one that finds that fucked up[/QUOTE] I'm pretty sure it was for benign reasons, like how to cure such an easily-spreading plague.

It became [I]airborne?![/I] Shit, fucking kill it now before an accident happens

[QUOTE=Ardosos;33822150]I'm pretty sure it was for benign reasons, like how to cure such an easily-spreading plague.[/QUOTE] "um hey could you devise a genetically modified virus that could potentially destroy mankind and ONLY give it to america" "its for a cure dont worry lol"

What kind of person wakes up in the morning and thinks, "Hmm, how can I buttfuck the human race today?" edit: [img]http://hairlarious.files.wordpress.com/2009/09/george-bush.jpg?w=450&h=386[/img] oh yeah..

[QUOTE=Kopimi;33822201]"um hey could you devise a genetically modified virus that could potentially destroy mankind and ONLY give it to america" "its for a cure dont worry lol"[/QUOTE] "Hey man, you see this virus, and how easily we made it? You see how anybody could possibly make it? Maybe we should, I don't know, look into a way of curing this virus that any terrorist could easily make?"

"I don't think anthrax is scary at all compared to this" [b]FUCK[/b]

[QUOTE=Kopimi;33822201]"um hey could you devise a genetically modified virus that could potentially destroy mankind and ONLY give it to america" "its for a cure dont worry lol"[/QUOTE] Are you seriously suggesting that they'd use this as a weapon or some sort of bargaining chip? That's downright stupid, if it's airborne and spreads fast then it'd effect the US also