Snot a good issue in Science this week-Bird Flu

[Darwinsbulldog]

http://www.sciencemag.org/content/su...1.DC1/1521.mp3

IntroductionH5N1

1. Bruce Alberts, Editor-in-Chief of Science

H5N1 Special Section

• Introduction

News

• Public at Last, H5N1 Study Offers Insight Into Virus's Possible Path to Pandemic
• For Young Scientists, A Wild Ride
• How Much Longer Will Moratorum Last?

Policy Forums and Perspectives

• Benefits and Risks of Influenza Research: Lessons Learned
• Regulating the Boundaries of Dual Use Research
• Implementing the New U.S. Dual-Use Policy
• Securing Medical Research: A Cybersecurity Point of View
• Evolution, Safety, and Highly Pathogenic Influenza Viruses
• Influenza: Options to Improve Pandemic Preparation

Reports

• Airborne Transmission of Influenza a/H5N1 Virus Between Ferrets
• The Potential for Respiratory Droplet Transmissible A/H5N1 Influenza Virus to Evolve in a Mammalian Host

Full Index for this Special Section


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CREDIT: DR. GOPAL MURTI/VISUALS UNLIMITED, INC.

The publication in this issue of the research paper airborne transmission of Influenza A/H5N1 Virus Between Ferrets, plus its newer companion The Potential for Respiratory Droplet–Transmissible A/H5N1 Influenza Virus to Evolve in a Mammalian Host, marks the end of more than 8 months of widely reported controversy over whether some of the data now freely accessible should be withheld in the public interest (see http://scim.ag/H5N1_Flu for a compilation of News and Commentary recently published in Science). As a result, people worldwide are now much more aware of the potential threat that this virus, commonly known as “bird flu,” poses to humanity. And the open publication of new data concerning the potential of H5N1 to convert directly to a form that can be transferred through the air between ferrets will motivate many more policy-makers and scientists to work to reduce the likelihood that this virus will evolve to cause a pandemic. Breakthroughs in science often occur when a scientist with a unique perspective combines prior knowledge in novel ways to create new knowledge, and the publication of the two research Reports in this issue will hopefully help to stimulate the innovation needed, perhaps from unsuspected sources, to make the world safer.

http://www.sciencemag.org/content/336/6088/1521.full

Lots of other interesting stuff, including a podcast of how to softly land a new 3-tonne Mars Rover called "Curiousity" on August 6th.