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Experimentation is a wonderful way to explore a new theory or test the viability of an idea by performing a number of tests.

Following scientific methodology will always present us with information and a result, but what happens when the conclusion has the potential to put many lives in danger?

A team of scientists based in Boston have been causing a stir with their latest endeavours, whipping up a new strain of the lethal COVID-19 virus.

According to STAT, Mohsan Saeed alongside his colleagues from Boston University’s National Emerging Infectious Diseases Lab reported on research they conducted.

Their study involved the creation of a hybrid or chimeric virus, in which the spike protein of Omicron, a version of the SARS-2 strain, was fused to a virus of the Wuhan strain. The initial Wuhan strain was the original version that emerged from China in 2020:

“Consistent with studies published by others, this work shows that it is not the spike protein that drives Omicron pathogenicity, but instead other viral proteins. Determination of those proteins will lead to better diagnostics and disease management strategies,” Saeed said in a comment circulated by the university.

It is alleged that the scientists have been working without the consent of their donors, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

What’s more, is the fact that the project’s financial donors only found out about the nature of the work through media reports.

It must have been utterly devasting to find out about the developments of potentially deadly experiments through a slew of news outlets:

Image: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, NIH

Emily Erbelding, a representative from the NIH, felt that the team of scientists could have handled the situation in a more honest and earnest way:

“What we would have wanted to do is to talk about exactly what they wanted to do in advance, and if it met what the P3CO framework defines as enhanced pathogen of pandemic potential, ePPP, we could have put a package forward for review by the committee that’s convened by HHS, the office of the assistant secretary for preparedness and response. That’s what the framework lays out and that’s what we would have done,” she said.

Some experiments can provide us with a number of insights and results that can change the course of our future for the better, while others harbour the potential to wreak havoc and make life tougher for us all, especially when they are unauthorised.

Let’s hope that these scientists feel more than just apologetic for the work they have done.

Who knows what might follow once the scientific crew have been taken to the principal’s office?

[source:statnews]