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A new study involving a genetically modified flu virus has put aspotlight on calls for tighter international oversight ofbiomedical research whose bugs pose a high risk of global diseaseoutbreak if released accidentally, by terrorists, or by a rogueindividual. It's one of two such studies the second to be published soon that have been at the center of a debate over how heavily to censorresearch results to avoid publishing details that could make iteasier for individuals or countries to increase a virus's abilityto spread among organisms it currently can't infect. The study aimed to answer the question: How radically would a virusthat scientists have linked to Asian bird flu need to evolve inorder to readily spread among humans, something it rarely does now?To answer the question, the scientists genetically modified thevirus until they hit on a combination of changes that could enableit to spread readily among ferrets a lab stand-in for humans. A team led by University of Wisconsin virologist Yoshihiro Kawaokafound that only four changes to the virus's genetic makeup give itthe traits to spread among ferrets. The virus's potential for spread among humans is of keen interestto public-health officials. Since 2003, the World HealthOrganization has recorded 600 cases involving the Asian bird fluvirus in humans. While the number is small, of those cases, nearly60 percent were fatal, according to the WHO data. With such a high fatality rate, researchers and public-healthofficials are concerned that if the virus mutates, the consequencescould eclipse those of a global flu pandemic in 1918, a touchstoneevent in the annals of infectious disease. The pandemic isestimated to have killed between 20 million and 50 million peopleworldwide, according to the Centers for Disease Control andPrevention in Atlanta. Understanding the potential for such genetic mutations in thevirus, which can evolve rapidly, could help scientists spot a morevirulent form early and point to vaccines and other treatmentstailored to halt its spread, the study's researchers say. Dr. Kawaoka's team worked with a lab-created hybrid version of thevirus. None of the ferrets affected died. Even so, the geneticchanges that appear to ease its spread could plausibly appear instrains outside the lab, other researchers say. The formal report on the results appears in Thursday's issue of thejournal Nature. A second research paper on the topic, from a teamled by Ron Fouchier, a scientist at the Erasmus Medical Center inRotterdam, Netherlands, is slated for publication in an upcomingissue of the journal Science. Dr. Fouchier's team reportedly hasused the original virus for its experiments, instead of a hybrid. Much of the debate surrounding the papers has focused less onwhether such work should be done and more on safeguards during thework and access to the details. After reviewing drafts of the papers last fall that the two teamsaimed to publish, the US National Science Advisory Board forBiosecurity (NSABB) recommended last December that the papers bepublished, but with key details removed to make it harder to usethe information to turn the virus into a weapon. At the end ofMarch, the board reversed its recommendation after a panel ofexperts convened by the World Health Organization reviewed thestudies and supported the global public-health case for publishingthe papers in their full form. Also, the teams revised their papersto clarify points, including biosafety measures that theresearchers used to guard against accidental release. Discussions about adequate oversight of research into contagiousdiseases with the potential for global reach in the post 9/11 erahave been perking along, but nothing has happened," says LynnKlotz, senior science fellow with the Center for Arms Control andNon-Proliferation in Washington. Meanwhile, the research itself hasmoved ahead. The truth of the matter is that we never hear about thesethings until the research is done and published, he says. I am an expert from pneumatic-equipments.com, while we provides the quality product, such as Pneumatic System Components Manufacturer , Air Flow Control Valves, Pneumatic Tube Fittings,and more.
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