Federal officials have put an end to a moratorium on research funding that modifies viruses like this one to become more deadly. The federal authorities put an end to a moratorium imposed three years ago on funding research that alters germs to make them more deadly. Sign up for the Morning Briefing Newsletter This work can now continue, said Dr. Francis S. Collins, head of the National Institutes of Health, but only if a scientific panel decides that the benefits justify the risks.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention accidentally exposed dozens of workers to anthrax in 2014, and a subsequent investigation detailed other instances in which lab workers did not follow protocol. Around that time, vials of the deadly smallpox virus were found in a cardboard box in an unsecured refrigerator at the National Institutes of Health's campus in Bethesda, Maryland.
The government paused the research in 2014 to review the practices in handling and storing infectious agents. At the time, Collins said that biosafety and biosecurity risks needed to be "understood better." The pause came after several incidents involving the mishandling of potentially dangerous pathogens at government laboratories. It also said that the research must be "ethically justifiable" and that any pathogen created, transferred or used in the research "must be reasonably judged to be a credible source of a potential future human pandemic."
Microscopie électronique à transmission colorée des virus de la grippe aviaire A H5N1 (observés dans l'or) cultivés dans des cellules MDCK (en vert). CDC / Cynthia Goldsmith
Here We Go!: The U.S. Government Lifting Ban On Creating Lethal Viruses
READ :
NIH Lifts Funding Pause on Gain-of-Function Research : https://www.nih.gov/about-nih/who-we-are/nih-director/statements/nih-lifts-funding-pause-gain-function-research
Department of Health and Human Services Framework for Guiding Funding Decisions about Proposed Research Involving Enhanced Potential Pandemic Pathogens : https://www.phe.gov/s3/dualuse/Documents/p3co.pdf
Anthrax investigation: USDA finds more CDC lab problems : http://www.cnn.com/2014/07/15/health/cdc-anthrax-ziploc-bags/index.html
CDC: Up to 86 workers possibly exposed to anthrax : http://www.cnn.com/2014/06/19/health/cdc-possible-anthrax-exposure/
"The Federal Bureau of Investigation is aware of the incident and coordinating with officials at the CDC as they investigate. It is CDC's obligation to ensure that people feel safe and are safe in the workplace and the community as we conduct our life-saving laboratory work. We will report findings of this investigation and all steps we take to improve lab-safety processes as a result of this incident"
Why The Government Is Creating Lethal Viruses ?
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