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US reverses ban on experimenting with deadly viruses

Deleted member 1378

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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/12/20/us-government-lifts-ban-deadly-virus-experiments/

The US government has lifted a ban on making lethal viruses in the lab after ruling that the benefits of the research outweigh the risks.

Researchers will now be able to manufacture strains of influenza, Sars and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (Mers) in the lab.

The decision overturns a three-year research funding ban imposed after safety breaches at federal institutions risked the outbreak of dangerous viruses. In 2014 it was feared around 75 workers at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) were exposed to anthrax bacteria and are receiving treatment. Later that year, vials of smallpox which had been left in a cardboard box were found by a government scientist at a research centre near Washington.
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full article at the link

getting rid of another obama-era ban even though it makes no sense. especially when, on record, many innocent Americans get sick from this shit

but hey maybe trump doesn't know about the CWC. or will withdraw from it if he goes to war with NK
 
Razgriz-Specter

Razgriz-Specter

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Oct 25, 2017
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latest
 
RoKKeR

RoKKeR

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Oct 25, 2017
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Sure why the fuck not.

How long is it going to take to unfuck what this administration has done to the country.
 
Poppy

Poppy

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Oct 25, 2017
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finally, now i have a reason to get that degree in biochemistry after all

don't worry, when i wipe us all out i will make sure it is quick, probably, i dunno i'm not gonna test it all that much
 
Akira86

Akira86

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Oct 25, 2017
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oh thank god. I thought I would die from nuclear fallout or climate change. Or in the 2nd American Civil war.

I'm relieved I'll just die thanks to some intern's neglected bio-engineering work study project.
 
BlackSalad

BlackSalad

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Oct 27, 2017
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Its really not a terrible idea... Gives them time to preemptively develop vaccines and knowledge about these lesser researched strains if done responsibly.

It comes at higher risks of course and could really be abused in the wrong hands. Also, if done responsibly.. so who knows.
 
Dyle

Dyle

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Oct 25, 2017
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Good thing we have plenty of other regulations ensuring this is handled safely /s

Hard to say if this is all that bad, hopefully this was done in response to better handling of the matter within the CDC and not as one of Trump's mindless regulation slashings
 
Steel

Steel

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Oct 25, 2017
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I mean, this could actually be used for some decent research. This is one of the few of Trump's decisions that I don't entirely think is bad.
 
blinky

blinky

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Oct 27, 2017
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BlackSalad said:
Its really not a terrible idea... Gives them time to preemptively develop vaccines and knowledge about these lesser researched strains if done responsibly.

It comes at higher risks of course and could really be abused in the wrong hands. Also, if done responsibly.. so who knows.
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Agreed. There are excellent humanitarian reasons for funding this sort of research. It goes without saying that labs need to fix the problems that resulted in this funding ban in the first place though.
 
Zeno

Zeno

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Oct 25, 2017
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It was banned for people not following the proper safety protocols. If they don't fix that, it should be banned again.
 
MBeanie

MBeanie

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Oct 27, 2017
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Anti-science adminstration now suddenly cares about scientific research. Well here's hoping this does more good for us in our understanding of these strains of virus.
 
blinky

blinky

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Squarehard said:
I guess bring on the chemical warfare.
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I think the manufacture of biological weapons (what you meant) is illegal by treaty and has nothing to do with this decision.

To be sure, I'm not naive enough to think that the US doesn't do biological weapons research. Just that that sort of research is and continues to be illegal. The type of research that the administration is funding is different.
 
Oyashiro-Sama

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"Which of these End of the World scenarios is more likely? Environmental disaster, Nuclear war, Super flu or cannibalism because no one can afford real food."

"Only one way to find out!"


 
pixelation

pixelation

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Oct 26, 2017
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Oh man, stupid mollusk man keeps acting stupid as long as he gets to shit/undo all of the things that Obama did... i bet he dreams of him too, he has a weird ass obsession with Obama it seems.
 
DigitalOp

DigitalOp

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Nov 16, 2017
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To be fair, Ive seen enough scientists and doctors claim that they are virtually inept in creating vaccines or cures because regulation bans any sort of procedure or experimentation in creating those sorts of things. It kind of annoys them because its like whats the point.
 

Deleted member 12379

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Lifting bans on research is usually a positive thing, given the proper infrastructure is put in place to handle these viruses. The HHS dept is a trillion dollar dept that has tons of brilliant researchers and docs just doing their thing. However, it's a cabinet level dept, so of course it's being run by incompetent assholes. So I dunno what to think of this other than to just always remain skeptical.

Here's an NPR story on this same subject: https://www.npr.org/sections/health...earch-that-could-make-deadly-viruses-stronger

And here's the actual HHS proposal: https://www.phe.gov/s3/dualuse/Documents/p3co.pdf
 
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GoldenEye 007

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porkproduct said:
Lifting bans on research is usually a positive thing, given the proper infrastructure is put in place to handle these viruses. The HHS dept is a trillion dollar dept that has tons of brilliant researchers and docs just doing their thing. However, it's a cabinet level dept, so of course it's being run by incompetent assholes. So I dunno what to think of this other than to just always remain skeptical.
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Given they've already fucked up, causing a ban in the first place, I have zero faith the Trump admin has put in additional protocols to correct and improve the safety issues previously experienced.
 
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