Controversial research is set to resume on artificially creating a new highly contagious form of the H5N1 bird flu virus, which could be spread by humans. Rebecca Morelle reports. With just a few mutations, the H5N1 virus can jump from its current form that’s lethal in birds to one that spreads among humans. But when scientists announced they’d done this in the lab, the news was met with shock. And with concerns over containment, the scientists put their research on hold. One year on though and they are ready to resume. Their labs, they claim, meet the highest safety standards and this work could help to fight the constantly evolving virus. But some researchers warn that while the risk of the pathogen escaping is small, the consequences could be catastrophic.
科學家稱將重啟對一種新型高傳染性H5N1禽流感病毒的研究，這種病毒可以通過人際傳播，此舉引起廣泛爭議。 Rebecca Morelle報道。 H5N1病毒經(jīng)過幾次突變就可以從目前對鳥類致命的病毒轉變?yōu)榭扇穗H傳播的病毒，此前，科學家宣稱將在實驗室做這樣的突變，這個消息令人們震驚。 考慮到控制問題，科學家們將實驗暫停。 一年后他們希望能繼續(xù)實驗， 他們稱實驗室符合最高的安全標準，該研究能幫助應對這種不斷演變的病毒。但有的研究者警告說，雖然病原體逃逸的危險很小，但一旦發(fā)生，后果將是災難性的。