Scientists create virus capable of killing millions
2/20/2012It's a modern Frankenstein, miniaturized but potentially far more monstrous: a man-made virus capable of killing millions. Scientists promise safety, but the World Health Organization has for now halted publication of the controversial research, citing fears of bioterrorism, reports MSNBC. Dutch virologists have mutated the H5N1 bird flu virus so it that can cause a deadly pandemic. One strand, developed at the University of Wisconsin, is "highly infectious." Why do it? So that "we know where to look in the future," as an "early warning system for pandemics," says virologist Ron Fouchier, of the Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam.
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