US government urges scientists to censor findings on new strain of bird flu

Scientists warn that the information produced new research on the H5N1 virus could hinder the discovery of a vaccine

moves by the U.S. government to restrict the publication of articles describing new potentially dangerous strains of bird flu could cause more harm than good by blocking progress toward a vaccine, Scientists warn.

Watchdog U.S. biosecurity asked two of the leading scientific journals Science and Nature, remove information from the documents for fear of the research could fall into the hands of bioterrorism.

But scientists involved in the research spoke of their experiences in public lectures earlier this year, has led some experts to doubt that the documents have much effect .

"There is cause for concern, but to restrict the publication and is closing the barn door after the horse has escaped," said John Wood, former head of the United Kingdom virologist National Institute Biological Standards and Control. "Not only impede progress."

The U.S. National Science Advisory Board on Biosecurity (NSABB) has contacted the editors of journals, after reviewing two documents presented by Ron Fouchier at Erasmus Medical Centre Rotterdam, and Yoshihiro Kawaoka of the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

The documents describe experiments in which strains of H5N1 avian influenza, they do not spread easily from human to human, were mutated to make it more transmissible.

Although outbreaks of bird flu has killed a large number of people infected, most people who contracted the virus directly from birds captured. Because the virus became known, scientists have been racing to find ways it could mutate in nature in a more transmissible strain that spread quickly from person to person.

The mutant strains were created for the investigation of drugs and vaccines, but if released from its containment laboratories of universities, high security, have the potential to trigger a global pandemic.

• In November, Dr Fouchier told a reporter for Science magazine, that the strain of bird flu that his team had created was "probably one of the most dangerous viruses that can be made. " He quoted Paul Keim, President of the NSABB, who has worked extensively on anthrax, saying. "I can not think of another pathogen that is as scary as it does not think Anthrax is complicated compared to that."
• The NSABB has urged magazine publishers to delete paragraphs manuscripts that explain how the experiments were conducted, with other details that could help potential terrorists replicate the work and give vent to a dangerous voltage. The Department of Health and Human Services supported the petitions.

newspapers are now working with U.S. authorities to agree on a procedure by which the edited versions of articles are published in good faith, but researchers may have access to basic methods and other details have been removed. The work could be published next month.

Richard Ebright, a professor of molecular biology at Rutgers University in New Jersey, said the wording would have provided "no practical impact" because the information had been presented at conferences, in Journal Staff presence and sent to scientists for review.

Find best price for : --control----NSABB----Fouchier----National----John--