Scientific Journals Plan To Publish Contentious Bird Flu Research

http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2012/03/30/149716286/scientific-journals-plan-to-publish-contentious-bird-flu-research

A government advisory committee has reconsidered its advice to keep certain details of bird flu experiments secret.

Revised versions of manuscripts that describe two recent studies can be openly published, the committee now says. The decision could help end a contentious debate that has raged within the scientific community for months.

In response, the editors of two journals immediately said they planned to publish the research soon.

The editor-in-chief of the journal Nature, Philip Campbell, said in an emailed statement that his journal was delighted at the news. "Subject to any outstanding regulatory or legal issues, we intend to proceed with publication as soon as possible," Campbell said.

The editor-in-chief of the journal Science, Bruce Alberts, said in a statement that his journal "will proceed in an expedient but careful manner" to publish the research in full.

Late last year, the National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity reviewed two papers describing experiments on bird flu and recommended that science journals not publish the full details. The concern was that the information could reveal how to create a contagious new form of the bird flu virus that could potentially be used as a bio-weapon.