Fw: [Mycoplasmaforum] This is how it works! Except its intentional! Scientists Try To Make Super Deadly Flu Pathogen!

February 28, 2004

-

walt

mycoplasmaforum

Saturday, February 28, 2004 8:53 AM

[Mycoplasmaforum] This is how it works! Except its intentional!

Scientists Try To Make Super Deadly Flu Pathogen!

----------

http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99994713

Scientists Try To Make

Super Deadly Flu Pathogen

From Patricia Doyle, PhD

dr_p_doyle

2-27-4

" They " are tweaking away. No chance for the new genetically

manipulated pathogen to leave the lab? It is playing Russian Roulette and,

eventually, a 'bullet' will exit the gun barrel.

We just went through an event I believe was a lab-escaped pathogen,

SARS. There have been countless lab accidents over the decades. Most

recently, a lab researcher was infected with Ebola when she accidently stuck

herself with a needle that contained the deadly virus. Ebola is worked on in

the HIGHEST level of security, BSL 4, yet, accidents still happen.

There have been other incidents in which a researcher,

knowingly-infected with some dangerous pathogen did not report the incident,

i.e. until he was taken to the ER of a local hospital and had to explain he

may be infected with Sabin virus through his work.

Why should we expect that the new deadly highly pathogenic avian

influenza won't get out via similar route, lab accident?

What do we call people who do not learn by their mistakes? " Stupid. "

They are risking the lives of countless millions on the planet. Then again,

that might be the sinister plan. Eliminate about one third of the

population, especially the infirmed, very young and the elderly and save

money on retirement social security checks for George Bush and Alan

Greenspan. Yes, maybe that is the plan...

Patricia Doyle

Superflu Is Being Brewed In The Lab Exclusive from New Scientist

Print Edition. After the worldwide alarm triggered by 2003's SARS

outbreak, it might seem reckless to set about creating a potentially far

more devastating virus in the lab. But that is what is being attempted by

some researchers, who argue that the dangers of doing nothing are even

greater.

We already know that the H5N1 bird flu virus ravaging poultry farms

in Asia can be lethal on the rare occasions when it infects people. Now a

team is tinkering with its genes to see if it can turn into a strain capable

of spreading from human to human. If they manage this, they will have

created a virus that could kill tens of millions if it got out of the lab.

Many researchers say experiments like this are needed to answer

crucial questions. Why can a few animal flu viruses infect humans? What

makes the viruses deadly? And what changes, if any, would enable them to

spread from person to person and cause pandemics that might prove far worse

than that of 1918? Once we know this, they argue, we will be better prepared

for whatever nature throws at us.

Others disagree. It is not clear how much we can learn from such

work, they argue. And they point out that it is already possible to create a

vaccine by other means. The work is simply too dangerous, they say.

" I'm getting bombarded from both sides, " says Ronald Atlas, head of

the Center for Deterrence of Biowarfare and Bioterrorism at the University

of Louisville in Kentucky. " Some say that this sort of research is dangerous

because of the risk of the virus escaping or being using in bioterrorism,

and others that it's good science. "

Rodents And Monkeys

Some researchers refuse to discuss their plans. But Jacqueline Katz

at the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in Atlanta, Georgia, told New

Scientist her team is already tweaking the genes of the H5N1 bird flu virus

that killed several people in Hong Kong in 1997, and those of the human flu

virus H3N2.

She is testing the ability of the new viruses to spread by air and

cause disease in ferrets, whose susceptibility to flu appears to be

remarkably similar to ours.

Albert Osterhaus of Erasmus University in Rotterdam in the

Netherlands plans to test altered viruses on rodents and macaque monkeys.

Other groups are also considering similar experiments, he says.

If such work were to show that H5N1 could cause a human pandemic,

everything that is happening in Asia would be even more alarming, Osterhaus

argues. If, on the other hand, it failed to transform H5N1 into a highly

contagious human virus, we could relax. " It becomes a veterinary health

problem, not a public health problem. That would be an enormous relief. "

Cell Cultures

But Wendy Barclay of the University of Reading in the UK, who

" thought long and hard " about trying to create a pandemic flu virus before

abandoning the idea, disagrees. " If you get a negative, how can you be sure

that you have tested every option? " she says. Health authorities would still

have to take the precaution of creating H5N1 vaccines.

Barclay concedes, however, that creating a virus that spreads in

people might tell us how real the threat is. For instance, do you need one

mutation for H5N1 to adapt to humans, or dozens?

Osterhaus is more optimistic. " Within the next decade, the whole

thing will be solved, " he says. " We will know the rules. " In other words,

once experts understand what the genetic sequence of any flu virus means,

they could predict which animals it can infect, how severe it will be, and

how easily it will spread.

Yet any new viruses could only be tested in human cell cultures or

in animals, not on people. None of these methods exactly reflects how flu

behaves in humans. This has led some flu experts to argue that attempts to

create a pandemic virus should be put on hold until there is agreement on

the best way of testing it.

Mix Flu Genes

And there is an even more fundamental objection to such experiments:

the processes used to create the viruses may be too artificial. Researchers

who want to see if H5N1 can be pandemic can take two approaches.

One is to tinker with the genome of the bird flu virus to mimic

mutations that might occur naturally. This can be done precisely using a

technique called reverse genetics. The other approach is to mix bird flu

genes with those of human flu viruses, either using reverse genetics or

through random re-assortment in cells infected with both types.

Although re-assortment sounds more natural, there is a problem.

" Re-assortments can be made very easily in the lab using cells or animals, "

says flu expert Graeme Laver, formerly at the Australian National University

in Canberra. " But one of the big mysteries is that [human] viruses that

appear by reassortment are extremely rare in nature. There is something else

involved that we don't understand. "

Then there is the question of safety. The worst-case scenario is

that researchers might end up engineering extremely dangerous viruses that

would never have evolved naturally.

Masks Or Hoods

In 2001, for instance, Australian researchers created a mousepox

virus far more virulent than any wild strains. This scenario is unlikely,

but not impossible, says virologist Earl Brown of the University of Ottawa,

Canada. " You could create something that is right out of whack, but I'd be

surprised. "

For those reasons, several prominent flu researchers told New

Scientist that the H5N1 experiments must be done at the highest level of

containment: Biosafety Level 4, or BSL-4. But the CDC work is being done at

BSL-3Ag, an intermediate level between BSL-3 and BSL-4. Workers wear

half-suits with masks or hoods to prevent infection, for instance, rather

than full-body suits as in BSL-4.

" US Department of Agriculture guidelines specify that work with

highly pathogenic avian strains be done in BSL-3+ (also known as BSL-3Ag)

laboratories, " a CDC spokeswomen says.

One of the reasons is that the H5N1 virus is regarded as a

non-contagious, treatable disease in humans. But this is not necessarily

true of all of the genetically engineered strains that might be created. And

drug supplies would quickly run out if an escaped virus triggered a major

epidemic.

New Variants A recent report by the US National Academy of

Sciences recommends a series of checks be put in place to control such

research. It says a panel of leading scientists and security experts should

be set up to regulate it.

" Some public representation is another option, " says Atlas, who

helped draw up the report. At the moment, however, such experiments can be

carried out without any special consultation.

Methods like reverse genetics might also be used to create new

variants of other diseases. " You can make some pretty unusual things new

viruses that would never have existed in nature, " says Barclay. " It's not

just an issue for flu. "

http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99994713

Patricia A. Doyle, PhD Please visit my " Emerging Diseases " message

board at:

http://www.clickitnews.com/ubbthreads/postlist.php?Cat= & Board=emergingdiseases

Zhan le Devlesa tai sastimasa Go with God and in Good Health

--

February 28, 2004

- walt

mycoplasmaforum

Saturday, February 28, 2004 8:53 AM

[Mycoplasmaforum] This is how it works! Except its intentional! Scientists Try To Make Super Deadly Flu Pathogen!

--Rense.com--Scientists Try To MakeSuper Deadly Flu PathogenFrom Patricia Doyle, PhDdr_p_doyle2-27-4 "They" are tweaking away. No chance for the new geneticallymanipulated pathogen to leave the lab? It is playing Russian Roulette and,eventually, a 'bullet' will exit the gun barrel. We just went through an event I believe was a lab-escaped pathogen,SARS. There have been countless lab accidents over the decades. Mostrecently, a lab researcher was infected with Ebola when she accidently stuckherself with a needle that contained the deadly virus. Ebola is worked on inthe HIGHEST level of security, BSL 4, yet, accidents still happen. There have been other incidents in which a researcher,knowingly-infected with some dangerous pathogen did not report the incident,i.e. until he was taken to the ER of a local hospital and had to explain hemay be infected with Sabin virus through his work. Why should we expect that the new deadly highly pathogenic avianinfluenza won't get out via similar route, lab accident? What do we call people who do not learn by their mistakes? "Stupid."They are risking the lives of countless millions on the planet. Then again,that might be the sinister plan. Eliminate about one third of thepopulation, especially the infirmed, very young and the elderly and savemoney on retirement social security checks for George Bush and AlanGreenspan. Yes, maybe that is the plan... Patricia Doyle Superflu Is Being Brewed In The Lab Exclusive from New ScientistPrint Edition. After the worldwide alarm triggered by 2003's SARSoutbreak, it might seem reckless to set about creating a potentially farmore devastating virus in the lab. But that is what is being attempted bysome researchers, who argue that the dangers of doing nothing are evengreater. We already know that the H5N1 bird flu virus ravaging poultry farmsin Asia can be lethal on the rare occasions when it infects people. Now ateam is tinkering with its genes to see if it can turn into a strain capableof spreading from human to human. If they manage this, they will havecreated a virus that could kill tens of millions if it got out of the lab. Many researchers say experiments like this are needed to answercrucial questions. Why can a few animal flu viruses infect humans? Whatmakes the viruses deadly? And what changes, if any, would enable them tospread from person to person and cause pandemics that might prove far worsethan that of 1918? Once we know this, they argue, we will be better preparedfor whatever nature throws at us. Others disagree. It is not clear how much we can learn from suchwork, they argue. And they point out that it is already possible to create avaccine by other means. The work is simply too dangerous, they say. "I'm getting bombarded from both sides," says Ronald Atlas, head ofthe Center for Deterrence of Biowarfare and Bioterrorism at the Universityof Louisville in Kentucky. "Some say that this sort of research is dangerousbecause of the risk of the virus escaping or being using in bioterrorism,and others that it's good science." Rodents And Monkeys Some researchers refuse to discuss their plans. But Jacqueline Katzat the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in Atlanta, Georgia, told NewScientist her team is already tweaking the genes of the H5N1 bird flu virusthat killed several people in Hong Kong in 1997, and those of the human fluvirus H3N2. She is testing the ability of the new viruses to spread by air andcause disease in ferrets, whose susceptibility to flu appears to beremarkably similar to ours. Albert Osterhaus of Erasmus University in Rotterdam in theNetherlands plans to test altered viruses on rodents and macaque monkeys.Other groups are also considering similar experiments, he says. If such work were to show that H5N1 could cause a human pandemic,everything that is happening in Asia would be even more alarming, Osterhausargues. If, on the other hand, it failed to transform H5N1 into a highlycontagious human virus, we could relax. "It becomes a veterinary healthproblem, not a public health problem. That would be an enormous relief." Cell Cultures But Wendy Barclay of the University of Reading in the UK, who"thought long and hard" about trying to create a pandemic flu virus beforeabandoning the idea, disagrees. "If you get a negative, how can you be surethat you have tested every option?" she says. Health authorities would stillhave to take the precaution of creating H5N1 vaccines. Barclay concedes, however, that creating a virus that spreads inpeople might tell us how real the threat is. For instance, do you need onemutation for H5N1 to adapt to humans, or dozens? Osterhaus is more optimistic. "Within the next decade, the wholething will be solved," he says. "We will know the rules." In other words,once experts understand what the genetic sequence of any flu virus means,they could predict which animals it can infect, how severe it will be, andhow easily it will spread. Yet any new viruses could only be tested in human cell cultures orin animals, not on people. None of these methods exactly reflects how flubehaves in humans. This has led some flu experts to argue that attempts tocreate a pandemic virus should be put on hold until there is agreement onthe best way of testing it. Mix Flu Genes And there is an even more fundamental objection to such experiments:the processes used to create the viruses may be too artificial. Researcherswho want to see if H5N1 can be pandemic can take two approaches. One is to tinker with the genome of the bird flu virus to mimicmutations that might occur naturally. This can be done precisely using atechnique called reverse genetics. The other approach is to mix bird flugenes with those of human flu viruses, either using reverse genetics orthrough random re-assortment in cells infected with both types. Although re-assortment sounds more natural, there is a problem."Re-assortments can be made very easily in the lab using cells or animals,"says flu expert Graeme Laver, formerly at the Australian National Universityin Canberra. "But one of the big mysteries is that [human] viruses thatappear by reassortment are extremely rare in nature. There is something elseinvolved that we don't understand." Then there is the question of safety. The worst-case scenario isthat researchers might end up engineering extremely dangerous viruses thatwould never have evolved naturally. Masks Or Hoods In 2001, for instance, Australian researchers created a mousepoxvirus far more virulent than any wild strains. This scenario is unlikely,but not impossible, says virologist Earl Brown of the University of Ottawa,Canada. "You could create something that is right out of whack, but I'd besurprised." For those reasons, several prominent flu researchers told NewScientist that the H5N1 experiments must be done at the highest level ofcontainment: Biosafety Level 4, or BSL-4. But the CDC work is being done atBSL-3Ag, an intermediate level between BSL-3 and BSL-4. Workers wearhalf-suits with masks or hoods to prevent infection, for instance, ratherthan full-body suits as in BSL-4. "US Department of Agriculture guidelines specify that work withhighly pathogenic avian strains be done in BSL-3+ (also known as BSL-3Ag)laboratories," a CDC spokeswomen says. One of the reasons is that the H5N1 virus is regarded as anon-contagious, treatable disease in humans. But this is not necessarilytrue of all of the genetically engineered strains that might be created. Anddrug supplies would quickly run out if an escaped virus triggered a majorepidemic. New Variants A recent report by the US National Academy ofSciences recommends a series of checks be put in place to control suchresearch. It says a panel of leading scientists and security experts shouldbe set up to regulate it. "Some public representation is another option," says Atlas, whohelped draw up the report. At the moment, however, such experiments can becarried out without any special consultation. Methods like reverse genetics might also be used to create newvariants of other diseases. "You can make some pretty unusual things newviruses that would never have existed in nature," says Barclay. "It's notjust an issue for flu." http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99994713 Patricia A. Doyle, PhD Please visit my "Emerging Diseases" messageboard at:http://www.clickitnews.com/ubbthreads/postlist.php?Cat= & Board=emergingdiseases Zhan le Devlesa tai sastimasa Go with God and in Good Health