|
The researchers said they didn't know whether the four mutations they identified would make a bird flu in nature more transmissible. But they said the results should help scientists find other such mutations and understand what makes bird flu spread in people. The other paper reviewed by the committee, from a team headed by Ron Fouchier of Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, is going through peer review at the journal Science. The committee had more concerns about this paper, recommending publication of key parts by a split vote, versus its unanimous support of publishing all of the Kawaoka paper. One difference is that while Kawaoka basically added a bird flu portion to an ordinary human flu virus, Fouchier's team made a bird flu virus more transmissible through mutating it. Kawaoka's approach appeared to produce less risk, Paul Keim, acting chair of the federal biosecurity advisory panel, told a Senate committee recently. Toner said this week the hybrid Kawaoka's lab made would not be expected to be more dangerous than ordinary human flu, while the altered bird flu virus from the Dutch lab could be more lethal. So he said he's more concerned with the Dutch paper than Kawaoka's. But he said he would not second-guess the government's decision to support publishing the Dutch paper too. Fouchier has said his altered virus, while easily spread between ferrets, did not kill them. Richard Ebright, a molecular biologist at Rutgers University, said he's less concerned about publication of the papers than the fact that the federal government funded the research in the first place. "This is work that creates new biological threats," he said. "These viruses are dangerous and the ones that will come later (with further research) will be more dangerous." ___ Online: Journal Nature: http://www.nature.com/
[Associated
Press;
Medical writer Lauran Neergaard in Washington contributed to this report.
Malcolm Ritter can be followed at http://twitter.com/malcolmritter.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
News | Sports | Business | Rural Review | Teaching & Learning | Home and Family | Tourism | Obituaries
Community |
Perspectives
|
Law & Courts |
Leisure Time
|
Spiritual Life |
Health & Fitness |
Teen Scene
Calendar
|
Letters to the Editor