Custom-Built Pathogens Raise Bioterror Fears
By Joby Warrick
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, July 31, 2006; Page A01
STONY BROOK, N.Y.
Eckard Wimmer knows of a shortcut terrorists could someday use to get their hands on the lethal viruses that cause Ebola and smallpox. He knows it exceptionally well, because he discovered it himself.
In his small lab, Eckard Wimmer recently examined a tray that held a newly created virus growing in a cellular broth. (By Joby Warrick -- The Washington Post)
FROM SUNDAY'S POST
The Secretive Fight Against Bioterror
Work at new lab could someday save thousands of lives -- or create new risks and place the U.S in violation of international treaties.
As the fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks nears, The Washington Post looks back at how the terror strikes changed the nation's politics, society and culture.
In 2002, the German-born molecular geneticist startled the scientific world by creating the first live, fully artificial virus in the lab. It was a variation of the bug that causes polio, yet different from any virus known to nature. And Wimmer built it from scratch.
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Poster Comment:
Watch the video associated with this article. Wimmer's experiment was commissioned by the Dept. of Defense. Hmmmmm.....