Disaster NIH Lifts Ban On Research That Could Make Deadly Viruses Even Worse - OMG I have genetically modified AIDDSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

Scientists could soon resume controversial experiments on germs with the potential to cause pandemics, as government officials have decided to finally lift an unusual three-year moratorium on federal funding for the work.

The research involves three viruses — influenza, SARS, and MERS — that could kill millions if they mutated in a way that let the germs spread quickly among people.

The bird flu virus H7N9, for example, is known to have infected more than 1,500 people, and 40 percent of them died. But unlike common flu strains, this one does not spread easily among humans.

Biologists say they may need to alter these viruses in the lab to understand what genetic changes matter in starting pandemics, so they can understand the risks and get ready. But some of their past efforts to tinker with viruses have made other scientists uneasy.

On Tuesday, the Department of Health and Human Services released a new framework for making decisions about funding research that has the potential to create a new pandemic strain.

"We have a responsibility to ensure that research with infectious agents is conducted responsibly, and that we consider the potential biosafety and biosecurity risks associated with such research," said Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health, in a statement.

In 2011, scientists revealed that they had deliberately made forms of a deadly bird flu that could transmit easily among ferrets, the stand-in for people in flu studies. Critics argued that the knowledge gained wasn't worth the danger of creating a superflu that might escape the lab. In early 2012, virologists agreed to put a voluntary moratorium on their bird flu work that was supposed to last only 60 days, but ended up lasting more than a year.

The issue flared up again after unrelated mishaps involving anthrax and bird flu heightened concerns about lab accidents. At about the same time, the Ebola outbreak provided a vivid example of how a deadly, contagious virus could kill thousands.

In October 2014, the White House announced a mandatory "funding pause" for any research that could make influenza, severe acute respiratory syndrome or Middle East Respiratory Syndrome more deadly or more transmissible.

Officials embarked on an effort to come up with a regulatory process that would weigh the risks and the benefits of experiments, with input from the National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity and the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

"There has been increased scrutiny of laboratories working in this area, which can lead to an even more robust culture of safety. But I also fear that the moratorium may have delayed vital research," says Samuel Stanley, president of Stony Brook University and chair of the NSABB, who said he was not speaking for the biosecurity committee. "That could have long lasting effects on the field. I believe nature is the ultimate bioterrorist and we need to do all we can to stay one step ahead."

Indeed, as the moratorium dragged on, some scientists wondered whether this research would end up being done by labs overseas that weren't subject to these funding restrictions.

"I am happy to see that this is finally moving forward," says virologist Ron Fouchier of Erasmus Medical Center in the Netherlands, whose NIH-funded experiments with bird flu originally sparked this debate. He said he has not seen details of the review process, so he does not know exactly what it would mean for the research community. But he was hoping to resubmit proposals that had been approved under the old policy "and continue with the NIH-funded research activities that have been on hold for several years now."

Matthew Frieman, a virologist at the University of Maryland School of Medicine who studies SARS and MERS, is also "thankful this is finally resolved." He says there has been "much uncertainty" among researchers working on these pathogens.

"It is very good news for laboratories interested in understanding the threat of natural pathogens to the human population," agrees James Paulson, a researcher at The Scripps Research Institute. He believes that the new review process will allow responsible research to move forward "while guarding against the creation of pathogens with pandemic potential."

He says his team will likely apply for approval to study the potential for certain mutations to increase how easily bird flu can be transmitted among humans, but they would study the effect of these genetic changes in weakened flu viruses and not the deadly H7N9 virus itself.
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Thank god in my lifetime I can die of airborne aids created as a bioweapon in a lab somewhere.

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2017/12/19/571744856/nih-lifts-ban-on-research-that-could-make-deadly-viruses-stronger?
 
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Autopsy said:
Research like this is what prevents the inevitable strain of airborne AIDS from killing us all off. At the same time, why poke a sleeping bear?
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It's one of those things where it has major benefits but can also result in The Stand happening if scientists aren't careful. Or someone becomes really corrupt.
 
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I don't know about you guys, but if I had to choose between getting infected with smallpox or AIDS, I'd go with the smallpox if only because I can't spread it to my future offspring. Yeah, I'd be horrifically disfigured for life if I lived and God bless the man who'd dare to marry me, but at least I won't have to worry about having babies born with AIDS.

Still, it'd be really great to get vaccinations for these viruses just before shit hits the fan, and doing research helps even with the risks of it getting out. I don't really get why they had to discontinue the smallpox vaccine, but at least we still have that on hand unless it were to end up mutating into something more dangerous.
 
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Autopsy said:
Research like this is what prevents the inevitable strain of airborne AIDS from killing us all off. At the same time, why poke a sleeping bear?
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We've been working with HIV for years. It's considered to be a potential gene therapy vector. The three viruses that are now accessible are dangerous because they are so infectious already. They don't need any more help.
 
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Dysnomia said:
It's one of those things where it has major benefits but can also result in The Stand happening if scientists aren't careful. Or someone becomes really corrupt.
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Unfortunately, so could not doing it, because anyone already working on such a thing is probably doing novel research, and if we have no idea how to respond to it, we're in deep shit.
 
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Kari Kamiya said:
Still, it'd be really great to get vaccinations for these viruses just before shit hits the fan, and doing research helps even with the risks of it getting out. I don't really get why they had to discontinue the smallpox vaccine, but at least we still have that on hand unless it were to end up mutating into something more dangerous.
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The smallpox vaccine was discontinued because smallpox was eradicated in the wild, and a small number of people did not respond well to the vaccine. It wasn't worth the risk anymore. The only known sample of smallpox left in the world are the CDC's vault in Atlanta. I think the Russians may have had one too, but that was before the collapse of the Soviet Union. (All those Soviet scientists who hadn't been paid in years went to places like Tehran when the USSR fell.)

AIDS is surprisingly manageable these days. One pill a day, and you can live a surprisingly normal and long life. Amazing what you can accomplish when you throw enough money at a problem. Smallpox, on the other hand... the return of smallpox would kill a billion people easily. Yes, billion with a B. Wiping out these disease is one of medicine's greatest victories.
 
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