Two avian influenza A (H5N1) virionsWIKIMEDIA COMMONS, CYNTHIA GOLDSMITH/JACKIE KATZ
Ron Fouchier of Erasmus Medical Center in the Netherlands, who last September announced the creation of a mutant version of the H5N1 avian flu virus transmissible between ferrets, says that he is prepared to defy the Dutch government’s export controls that have prevented him from submitting his work for publication, according to Nature.
Earlier this month, a US biosecurity panel recommended the full publication of the his group’s paper, as well as similar research out of the University of Wisconsin, Madison—contrary to the board’s original findings last December that some of the results should be redacted. But even with the US government’s okay, Fouchier has recently complained that the Dutch government’s export laws are standing in the way. Now Fouchier says that he is prepared ...
