Classroom Discussion…

Last month scientists were asked to censor the publication of their research findings  into the H5N1 Bird Flu virus.  Specifically they were asked to not publish their methodology of making the virus more highly effective at infecting mammals.  The original article from ScienceNews is here.  The article raises a number of questions about the ethics of scientific research. Have your students debate intentionally not publishing the procedures from the standpoints of  reporting the science in a reproducible format  and the threat of  misuse of this information to create a bio-weapon.