There is an article at NewScientist.com that talks about the safety measures being taken to ensure that the recreated 1918 flu strains (or at least strains that incorporate some of the elements that appear to have made the 1918 flu strain so deadly) that have been brought into existance in the lab.
What do you think? Are they warranted in lowering the security from BSL-4 to BSL-3Ag? Is the fact that Tamiflu prevents infection in mice exposed to the virus sufficient cause to downgrade the security level? Personally I don't think so. With something as potentially deadly as this flu virus, it seems to me that an extraordinary level of caution is called for, simply because unanticipated accidents *do* happen.
Posted by CStroman (Member # 6872) on :
I guess it is all at what point does it become a "controlled substance".
At what point is a weapon considered a firearm, etc. and at what point does the right to bear arms end to where a device crosses over into the illegal category?
At what point does a chemisty experiment become a society based safety issue.
I can definately see how in my opinion the abuse of said strain could be very harmful to the general populate vs. what is gained by lowering the safety requirements of it, which seems not to be that advantageous.