Dutch scientists for some stupid reason have created a highly contagious killer bird flu - and want to publish how they did it.


Alarm as Dutch lab creates highly contagious killer flu (http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/alarm-as-dutch-lab-creates-highly-contagious-killer-flu-6279474.html)

A deadly strain of bird flu with the potential to infect and kill millions of people has been created in a laboratory by European scientists – who now want to publish full details of how they did it.

The discovery has prompted fears within the US Government that the knowledge will fall into the hands of terrorists wanting to use it as a bio-weapon of mass destruction.

Some scientists are questioning whether the research should ever have been undertaken in a university laboratory, instead of at a military facility.

The US Government is now taking advice on whether the information is too dangerous to be published.

"The fear is that if you create something this deadly and it goes into a global pandemic, the mortality and cost to the world could be massive," a senior scientific adviser to the US Government told The Independent, speaking on condition of anonymity.

"The worst-case scenario here is worse than anything you can imagine."

What could go wrong?

In the pursuit of scientific knowledge ,nothing is unethical .
Thus sayeth Dr. Sigmund Rascher

The other side of the coin is that others are developing killer strains too.
There's something to be said for making all this available, not so much to cut them off at the pass but to increase awareness, and hopefully funding for countermeasures.
Once you know you can develop something dangerous, do you really think you can keep a lid on the techniques very long?

Joy,

I just find it quite silly to publish how to make a biological weapon for anyone to see.

Bring it on. Look at all the jobs it would create :)~~~~~~~~

You didn't show the rest of the article, explaining why they want to publish.

Look at the % of people who died from a natural bird flu. Remember the fowl being slaughtered, the people quarantined, the clean rooms? Far from us in the US, but scary in China and pockets elsewhere.
Look at how easy they say it was to develop a new strain.
That means ANYBODY can be working on it as we sit here, maybe they already have it.

In ancient times, astronomers were the high priests. They had the power and held everyone in fear by being able to predict.

In the 20th century, doctors wore white coats and acted superior and withheld knowledge.

Software was proprietary to make money (hold power).

I'm not saying a killer flu is the same as software, just that worldwide wiki-dom has it's merits, it's safety in numbers.

I rarely show all of an article, there are space restrictions... that's why I furnish a link. I still see nothing in the article that justifies publishing the recipe, and I really don't see the connection to making a deadly virus more contagious leading to better prevention and treatment. I just see the insane possibility of unleashing a killer bug for no good reason.

Let's manage the ills we already have, not create worse ones.

In a different time with a different regime this is called a WMD bio-weapon program.

A superficial news blurb takes it all out of context. The point is that it was EASY to do, and that means OTHERS will do it anyway, independently, if they haven't already. Biological warfare is nothing new. Our government has all sorts of them, and have they been able to keep them all secret? Or to hang onto uranium, or top grade anthrax? Or plans? Of course not, there are leaks and spies and traitors in every country. I feel safer if it isn't governments holding the secret biological weapons. I feel safer it the entire world knows about how easy it is to kill with the flu, or any weapon.

The subject of 'good' coming out of this is another whole topic - nuclear bombs to nuclear power, etc. On the face of it the good for now is just a quick race to the antidote, but it should lead to a lot more than that in medicine. Like cloning, it will have controversy that is unavoidable. Progress marches on in both directions.

Excellent answer.

A superficial news blurb takes it all out of context.

Hey, I furnished the source and left it open to discussion. My question was, "what could go wrong"? The answer, any way you look at it is plenty.

I certainly respect your opinion and I get it, but just because others are or will do it anyway is not a very good excuse. If it leads to benefits for us then great, but my point is regardless of whether others are doing this it's no justification to publish the recipe. Once you let that genie out of the bottle it's going to be to pretty difficult to get it back in don't you think?

Update... the US is asking scientific journals to censor this info.
US asks scientific journals to censor bird flu studies | World news | guardian.co.uk (http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/dec/21/bird-flu-science-journals-us-censor)

update ...the US is asking scientific journals to censor this info.
US asks scientific journals to censor bird flu studies | World news | guardian.co.uk (http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/dec/21/bird-flu-science-journals-us-censor)

That's the kind of censorship I can get behind.

I fully agree with you that plenty can go wrong 'any way you look at it.'
Like just about any modern marvel.
I see it as a Pandora's box that's open whether it's open or not. It exists. Therefore it can escape, leak, get out, be stolen, be duplicated, be arrived at another way. We can't deny it.
I can appreciate a need or at least a widespread desire to put a lid on it for now while the bio-ethicists of the world duke it out.
Maybe this is all part of a plan to draw attention, not to really dole out recipes for murder.

Fair enough. :)