Making LIVE virus in lab--how much ethical it is??

[satheesh]

Avian influenza, also known as ‘fowl plague’, is an infectious disease of birds caused by type A strains of the influenza virus. The disease, which was first identified in Italy more than 100 years ago, occurs worldwide in many domestic birds, including chicken, turkey, ducks etc. THE GREATEST CONCERN TILL DATE IS THE PROBABLE TRANSMISSION OF THE DISEASE FROM BIRDS TO HUMAN DIRECTLY but recently in an article published from Forbes, there are some anatomic reasons why the virus can't directly jump from the birds to human. It is mostly due to deep localization of the virus in the lungs of birds rather than upper respiratory tract which means it can't be coughed out as aerosols and secondly the virus prefer a special type of receptor called SAalpha2,3Gal which in humans is localized in the deepest part of lung (lucky huh?)...Till now we r lucky as only human flu can bind to SAalpha2,6Gal, another type of receptor on upper respiratory tract. If some day the virus mutates and gains the ability to bind to this 2,6 receptor, that will be real dangerous situation.

Recently Avian flu is the hotest issue in asian countries and slowly gaining popularity or i must say becoming notorious in USA too !! Is there ample preparedness to face the disease outbreak in US? How much r we prepared to face it? I even heard that some scientists in US has engineered the live virus completely from viral genes recovered from one of worst flu epidemics in US ! isn't that scary if the virus leaves the lab accidently?? please comment on the ethical issues making such live virus in lab ? Is advancement of science require research?? And the procedure was even published in leading scientific journals like science and nature. What if these procedures are copied by some misanthrope !!!

[mattbimbo]

the comic or the film V for Vendetta might interest you?

 

most experts expect there to be an avian flu epidemic. governments in europe are stockpiling drugs that can help, vaccines are being synthesised, etc, strategies for isolating infected individuals and limiting spread of the disease are in place. i expect the US has something similar to this.

 

as regards your questions on the synthesis of the virus in the lab, this is absolutely necessary if one wants to both develop and test vaccines.

 

as for the science methods being used by a misanthrope (i much prefer this M word to the T word), well let's be clear that it is not technically difficult; there are generally available books on the methods involved. two days ago, ecoli posted a news thread on a virus that may cause obesity, in one of the references (far removed from the publication standards of nature or science) i found for this thread the authors describe how they made titres of live virus.

[prion]

isn't that scary if the virus leaves the lab accidently??

 

There are extremely strict rules about handling pathogens like that and the Centers for Disease Control in the US (where I think the 1918 flu was made?) has some of the best facilities in the world. They are used to handling deadly airbourne germs like anthrax, so the ethics of studying flu aren't really different from the ethics of studying any other disease that is just as deadly and contagious. I don't know exactly how their labs are set up, but I've worked at containment level 3, which is less strict (it's for things that are lethal but not airbourne) and that was very complicated - there are really complicated air handling/filtering systems, protective clothes, procedures for going in and out, etc etc. I think it's a pretty safe system.

[tejaswini]

the laboratories dealing with such live viruses have of course the necessary precautions to prevent such a mishap. and by the way it is very important that we culture these viruses , for various reasons like for testing the virus to check its pathogenesity and things like that. all the viruses (which are deadly ) for that matter are cultured in labs. they need the stocks.

[Steph]

its not an ethical issue. unless it would be for other reasons than to help makes vaccines, or cures, etc.

in that case, its simply a security issue.