ECO FOCUS: Outcry Over Creation of GM Smallpox Virus

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This ultimately affects us all - regardless of country of residence. FYI - Anna (I can't help but wonder if this issue is why we have lost some of our top scientists over the past couple of years). Maybe we need to find out who to write to in order to give OUR input on this issue - since we all have a stake in this.If anyone has any ideas of who to voice our opinions to - please post it to the groups - or to me, and I'll forward the information on.In Lak'ech - Anna"I am another you."http://annasrant.blogspot.com> ECO FOCUS: Outcry Over Creation of GM Smallpox Virus> http://www.truthout.org/docs_05/012505X.shtmlOutcry over Creation of GM Smallpox VirusBy Steve ConnorThe Independent U.K.Saturday 22 January 2005Senior scientific advisers to the World Health Organisation (WHO) have recommended the creation of a genetically modified version of the smallpox virus to counter any threat of a bioterrorist attack.Permitting researchers to engineer the genes of one of the most dangerous infections known to man would make it easier to develop new drugs against smallpox, the scientists said. But the man who led the successful global vaccination campaign to eradicate smallpox from the wild said he opposed the move on the grounds that the scientific benefits were not worth the risks to public health.Professor Donald Henderson, of the Centre for Biosecurity at the University of Pittsburgh, said he feared that tinkering with the genetic makeup of the variola virus - which causes smallpox - might accidentally produce a more lethal form of the disease.