US Asks Scientists To Censor Reports To Prevent Terrorism

Following up on a disturbing story we discussed in November, Meshach writes "The United States is asking scientific journals publishing details about biomedical research to censor articles out of fear that terrorists could acquire the information. 'In the experiments, conducted in the United States and the Netherlands, scientists created a highly transmissible form of a deadly flu virus that does not normally spread from person to person. It was an ominous step, because easy transmission can lead the virus to spread all over the world. The work was done in ferrets, which are considered a good model for predicting what flu viruses will do in people.' The panel cannot force the journals to censor their articles, but the editor of Science, Bruce Alberts, said the journal was taking the recommendations seriously and would most likely withhold some information. Are we heading for another Rorschach-style cheat sheet being developed?"

Comments

Government concerns

[Anonymous Coward]

Suppose our enemies used the research to develop a vaccine? Then the research will have been wasted.

Re:Population reduction

[cusco]

Fortunately most of the PETA and Animal Liberation Front people are dumb as dirt.