Commentary

Harvard University: Great virology, bad science writing

Harvard University is home to some of the world’s finest virologists. But apparently they do not communicate with the writers at Harvard Magazine, where a botched story on the avian H5N1 influenza virus has just been published. The problems begin with the first paragraph: But when Dutch researchers recently created an even more deadly strain …

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The risks and benefits of influenza H5N1 research

Both Nature and the New York Times have weighed in on the resumption of influenza H5N1 research. In an editorial from 23 January 2013, Nature opines that “Experiments that make deadly pathogens more dangerous demand the utmost scrutiny”: As several critics point out, the assessments of the relative risks and benefits of such research remain …

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Headline writers: Please take a virology course

Yesterday Denise Grady wrote in the New York Times about the end of the moratorium on influenza H5N1 virus research. The story headline read: Research to resume on modified, deadlier bird flu The Minneapolis Star Tribune reprinted Ms. Grady’s story with the following headline: Studies will resume on deadly modified flu virus Where do these …

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End of moratorium on influenza H5N1 research

In early 2012 influenza virus researchers around the world decided to stop working on highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 virus. This decision came after work from the Fouchier and Kawaoka laboratories revealed the isolation of influenza H5N1 strains that can be passed among ferrets by aerosol. The moratorium on influenza H5N1 virus research has now …

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Be curious

During my visit to the University of Vermont today I had lunch with seven talented Microbiology Ph.D. students. One of them asked me what was an important quality to have for achieving success in science. I said without hesitation, ‘Be curious’. It’s the answer I always give. Being curious is the first step to being …

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