This issue involves whether it is ever ethical to censor scientific research, and if so, how this would best be done and by whom. Much of this debate has come from two particular scientific papers (as described by Michael J. Selgelid, A Tale of Two Studies, Hastings Center Report, 2007; 37: 35-42) from which this case has been derived). In the first study done by Ron Jackson and collaborators from Canberra, Australia, a genetically engineered strain of mouse pox was produced by insertion of the IL-4 gene into the viral genome. The resulting virus was found to kill mice, even if the mice had either a natural immunity or had a vaccination using the normal strain of mouse pox. The findings and the Materials and Methods were published in the Journal of Virology 75;(2001):1205-1210. 

The concern is that the same kind of scientific procedures could be used to produce a vaccine-resistant smallpox (although small pox has a larger genome, it appears that samples of smallpox virus have not all been destroyed since the Soviet supplies were not well controlled). In another study, American scientists had used synthetic biology to manufacture a polio genome by attaching together commercially available strands of DNA in accordance to a map of the RNA polio genome (published on the internet). By adding some protein, they created a "live" virus that paralyzed mice. The findings and the Materials and Methods were published by Cello et al. in Science 2002; 297: 1016-1018. 

The concern about this is whether publishing these studies might allow others to produce dangerous pathogens. The United States National Research Council (Biotechnology Research in an Age of Terrorism, Washington, DC, NAP, 2004.) has proposed relying on the scientific community's voluntary self-governance in making decisions about what should be published. Selgelid (2007) argues that there should be censorship of this type of scientific study, since, "this kind of manufacture of biological weapons is relatively easy and inexpensive."

Questions:

    • What do you think? Should scientific research be censored?
    • What do you think is the right answer for the country?
    • If there were to be censorship, how should the censorship process be designed and what groups should be involved?


Last modified: Monday, 6 March 2023, 6:54 PM