U.S. board OKs publishing bird flu studies

Revised research studies showing how scientists made new easy-to-spread forms of bird flu don't reveal details bioterrorists could use and can be published, U.S. biosecurity advisers say.

The decision could end a debate that began in December when the government took the unprecedented step of asking scientists not to publicize all the details of their work.

The research, by two scientific teams in Wisconsin and in the Netherlands, was funded by the United States. It was an effort to learn more about the potential threat from bird flu in Asia. The virus so far doesn't spread easily among people. But the new lab-made viruses spread easily among ferrets, suggesting they would also spread among humans.

Last year, after reviewing earlier versions of the papers, the National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity said publishing full details would be too risky. The federal government agreed.

Scientists around the world debated the matter. Many argued that full publication would help scientists track dangerous mutations in natural bird flu viruses and test vaccines and treatments.

On Friday, board members, meeting in Washington, announced they are satisfied with the revised papers. The panel's advice now goes to the Department of Health and Human Services for a decision.

Editors of the journals Science and Nature, which plan to publish the works, said they were pleased by the recommendation.

The man-made viruses are locked in high-security labs. Publication in scientific journals is how scientists share their work so that their colleagues can build on it, perhaps finding ways to better monitor and thwart bird flu in the wild, for example.

University of Pennsylvania bioethics professor Art Caplan said the board's recommendation makes sense, primarily because the information in the studies is already being shared among scientists.