{"id":128885,"date":"2023-04-11T21:07:37","date_gmt":"2023-04-11T21:07:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/organicconsumers.org\/?p=128885"},"modified":"2023-04-24T21:12:31","modified_gmt":"2023-04-24T21:12:31","slug":"lab-created-bird-flu-virus-accident-shows-lax-oversight-of-risky-gain-of-function-research","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/organicconsumers.org\/lab-created-bird-flu-virus-accident-shows-lax-oversight-of-risky-gain-of-function-research\/","title":{"rendered":"Lab-Created Bird Flu Virus Accident Shows Lax Oversight of Risky \u2018Gain of Function\u2019 Research"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Lab-Created Bird Flu Virus Accident Shows Lax Oversight of Risky \u2018Gain of Function\u2019 Research<\/h1><\/span>
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The story of how the H5N1 viruses came to be created \u2013 and the response to a 2019 safety breach \u2013 raises uncomfortable questions about the tremendous trust the world is placing in research labs.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>

April 11, 2023 | Source: USA Today<\/a> | by Alison Young<\/p>\n<\/div>

This exclusive article is adapted from former USA TODAY investigative reporter Alison Young\u2019s forthcoming book “Pandora\u2019s Gamble: Lab Leaks, Pandemics, and a World at Risk,” which will be released April 25. In this excerpt, Young reveals for the first time details of a December 2019 lab safety breach involving one of the world\u2019s most infamous lab-created \u201cgain of function\u201d viruses \u2013 and the efforts that were made to downplay the event, avoid notifying health authorities and oversight bodies, and keep the public and policymakers in the dark.<\/em><\/p>\n

Inside the high-security\u00a0Influenza Research Institute<\/a>\u00a0at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, two experienced scientists were pulling ferrets out of their HEPA-filtered cages on a Monday in December 2019. Another researcher, still in training, was also in the room to watch and learn.<\/p>\n