Safety

Researchers create vaccine-proof virus

Emergency Management Alert, November 11, 2003

A research team backed by a federal grant created a genetically engineered mousepox virus that can evade vaccines, the Associated Press reports.

The St. Louis University team, led by Mark Buller, PhD, created the virus to figure out how to defeat it. They designed a two-drug cocktail that promises to knock out the deadly virus, and plan to publish their work soon in a peer review journal.

To create the virus, the researchers spliced a gene known to suppress the immune system into the mousepox virus, and then injected the combined strand into vaccinated mice. All the mice died. Mousepox can't be passed along to humans, but it is related to smallpox.

Buller presented the research at an international biodefense conference in late October, sparking debate among some attendees about whether publishing such information could help terrorists develop biological weapons. Some say the research should be kept confidential to prevent terrorists and rogue nations from getting it, but Buller argues that the only way to fight such superbugs is to develop them.

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