Government Lifts Ban on Making Lethal Viruses

What’s the story?

Federal officials have lifted the ban on making dangerous germs more lethal.

Dr. Francis S. Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health, said the research was necessary to help scientists "identify, understand, develop strategies and effective countermeasures against rapidly evolving pathogens that pose a threat to public health."

Critics, however, are concerned that "researchers risk creating a monster germ that could escape the lab and seed a pandemic," according to the New York Times.

Why does it matter?

The ban was put into place in October 2014, after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention accidentally exposed lab workers to anthrax and sent a deadly strain of avian flu to a lab that had actually requested a benign strain.

Now, researchers will be able to manufacture strains of influenza, severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS).

In a statement posted on the NIH website, Collins said:

"I am confident that the thoughtful review process laid out… will help to facilitate the safe, secure, and responsible conduct of this type of research in a manner that maximizes the benefits to public health."

However, Marc Lipsitch, an epidemiologist at the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health in Boston, told the journal Nature that these type of experiments "have done almost nothing to improve our preparedness for pandemics—yet they risked creating an accidental pandemic".

What do you think?

Do you support lifting the ban on making lethal viruses? Do the benefits outweigh the possible drawbacks? Hit Take Action and tell your reps, then share your thoughts below.

Take Action

—Josh Herman

Related Reading

• Government-funded Scientists Waiting for Congress to Decide their Fate

• Should the FDA Regulate High-Risk Homeopathic Products?

• Trump Administration Announces List of Forbidden Words In CDC Budget

• Opioid Crisis a National Emergency Says Presidential Commission

• Survey: Should the Federal Government Continue to Fund Medical Research?

(Photo Credit: solarseven / iStockphoto)