Scientists recreate deadly Spanish flu
There are fears the resurrection of the Spanish flu, that killed 50 million people early last century, could be used by bio-terrorists to cause a global pandemic.
American scientists hope researching the virus will help develop treatments for new viruses.
But an Australian expert warns the risks outweigh the potential benefits.
The Spanish Flu epidemic of 1918 was one of history's deadliest natural disasters.
Now scientists in the US have recreated an almost identical version of that virus.
The experiment has divided scientists.
Professor of infectious disease at the UNSW Raina MacIntyre said: “I think it's bad, I think it is unethical, I think there is always a risk.”
The researchers justify the work, saying it helps identify problematic viruses, and develop vaccines against them.
Professor Wendy Barclay, Chair in Influenza Virology at Imperial College London, insisted: “It is important work, it shows us lots of new things which help us deal with the pandemics when nature does throw them at us.
Alarmingly, the recipe for this virus has gone online.
And that is the main reason public health expert Professor MacIntyre believes the research should never have been released.
She says publishing how the virus was made could give terrorists a potential blueprint for a biological weapon.
"If you for example published methods for hacking bank accounts, what's the probability that criminals will use it? I'd say it's 100 per cent,” Professor MacIntyre added.
Analysis by Dr Andrew Rochford
‘First researchers built a close genetic match to Spanish Flu, using fragments of various strains of bird flu.
Then came the dangerous bit - they introduced a genetic modification that meant the virus could be airborne.
It was to study how the disease was spread among animals, however it is exactly the same genetic mutation that turns a potentially fatal flu into a pandemic.’
