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U.S. Researchers Await Final WHO Approval on Genetically Modified Smallpox Experiments
The World Health Organization is expected to make a final decision soon on a proposal by U.S. scientists to genetically modify the smallpox virus for research purposes, the Guardian reported today (see GSN, Jan. 24). A technical committee of the organization has already approved the proposal, but a final decision by the full assembly is pending. WHO representatives are expected to address the matter during a 10-day annual meeting that began yesterday in Geneva. Supporters believe that genetic modification could lead to new vaccines and treatments for smallpox, according to the Guardian. Some scientists have expressed concerns that the proposed experiments could increase the chances that smallpox would be used in an act of bioterrorism. For example, while stocks of the virus are now kept in only two secure laboratories — one in Russia and the other in the United States — relaxation of the rules would allow small components of the smallpox DNA to be made available to several laboratories. Donald Henderson, former director of the WHO global smallpox eradication program, has objected to permitting greater numbers of researchers to conduct smallpox experiments. “The problem is that we have got a lot of people with a lot more talent working in biological laboratories around the world and a lot of them are very well-trained and the potential for mischief here is much greater,” he said (Boseley/Borger, Guardian, May 17).
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