Flu Research In A BSL3 Lab A virologist studies avian influenza in a Biosafety Level 3 laboratory. Taronna Maines and Greg Knobloch/CDC
Plans To Make H7N9 Bird Flu Virus More Virulent In High-Security Tests -- The Guardian
Scientists say genetically modifying the H7N9 virus in the lab will help drive efforts to develop pandemic drugs and vaccines
Scientists have unveiled plans to genetically engineer a lethal strain of bird flu to understand how it could mutate in nature and trigger a catastrophic pandemic.
The H7N9 bird flu virus has infected more than 130 people and killed 43 since it emerged in China in March. The first strong evidence that the virus can spread from person to person appeared in the British Medical Journal this week.
While the closure of poultry markets has brought the outbreak under control, researchers fear infections may rise again in the winter.
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My Comment: I can understand the science .... and I do accept the fact that the genie is now out of the bottle .... but I can only hope that the proper precautions will be taken to not have an accidental release of such viruses and to make the worst possible situation into a reality.
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