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The following editorial appeared in the Chicago Tribune on March 19:

Late last year came word that a Dutch scientist had genetically tweaked one of the worlds most deadly bird flu viruses to make it more contagious to humans. In other words, a doomsday virus in a sneeze that could kill more than half of the people who caught it.

That chilling revelation set off an international furor over whether the details of that study and a similar one done by researchers at the University of Wisconsin at Madison should be published in scientific journals.

Scientists argued that researchers need those details to better detect and fight a possible epidemic of the virus, known as H5N1. Security experts argued compellingly that the studies should be expunged of key details, lest terrorists use that information to unleash a devastating biological weapon.

Another fear if those details escape the lab: There are thousands of do-it-yourself biologists who can buy sophisticated devices to duplicate segments of DNA on eBay. Might they be tempted to recreate the killer virus, known as H5N1, in their garage labs, just for kicks?

So far, the journals Science and Nature have not published the studies, at the behest of the National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity, a panel of experts that advises federal health officials.

But that could change soon. A panel of biologists assembled by the World Health Organization recommended recently that the full details of the experiments eventually be released, although WHO didnt set a timetable.

Talk about publish and perish.

We know that some researchers believe it is already too late, that enough details have circulated among scientists for them to deduce the recipe for the virus. We also know many researchers argue that censoring this study makes it harder to identify changes that might signal a virus is developing the ability to cause a pandemic Thats a powerful argument.

We oppose government censorship. Science works best when information flows freely.

Link:
Guest editorial: Publish and perish?