A federal biosecurity panel’s non-binding recommendation that two controversial research papers be published only in abbreviated form pits biosecurity concerns against traditional First Amendment notions of academic and scientific freedom. The papers in question report on experiments involving bird flu, a virus that only rarely infects people, but has a 60% mortality rate when it does. Public health officials are tracking outbreaks and developing plans to handle a bird flu pandemic.
The manuscripts describe the steps the researchers took to create a mutant strain of the virus that is both contagious to mammals (in this case, ferrets) and easily transmitted through the air. The experiments were designed to pinpoint specific genetic changes that would make the flu virus more transmissible; researchers and clinicians could use the findings to improve detection and treatment.
In an unprecedented move, the National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity has asked that the papers be redacted to omit experimental details that terrorists might use as a recipe for turning the virus into a bioweapon. Although the outcome of the dispute remains uncertain, it has been suggested that the authors and publishers may agree to censor the papers voluntarily if the federal government issues a written, transparent plan to ensure that all of information be made available to researchers for use in their legitimate efforts to improve public health and safety.
Story reported in the L.A. Times.
Story reported in the NYT.
