At a time when the new coronavirus Is spreading rapidly, a group of scholars from the United Kingdom, the United States, Germany and South Africa recently warned that scientists are creating "dangerous" self-spreading viruses in laboratories in the United States and Europe, which may have "irreversible consequences" for the planet.
According to foreign media reports, an international academic team led by King's College London recently pointed out in an article published in the journal Science that some scientists are trying to modify the virus in the laboratory to make it easier to spread between hosts in order to develop a "viral vaccine". So-called "viral vaccines," in which viruses can protect crops like pesticides or spread immunity between hosts like vaccines.
Many scientists believe that self-transmitting virus vaccines are at very high risk
Dr Filipa Renzos, from the Department of War Studies and The Department of Global Health and Social Medicine at King's College London, called such studies a classic example of "dangerous virology". "Developing self-transmitting viruses that can be released in the environment is another example of dangerous virology research, like looking for viruses in bat caves or deliberately making dangerous pathogens more dangerous in the lab." All of this is done in the name of protecting against future pandemics, but it's not clear at this time whether the expected benefits outweigh the very obvious risks. She said.
In the paper, the scientists called for "more regulation and discussion" of the "risks and benefits" of such research as research and development continues. "The challenge of self-transmitting viruses that have the potential to fundamentally transform wildlife and human communities can only be addressed through coordinated global governance efforts across regions, countries and localities." They wrote in the article.
Illustration of how self-propagating viral vaccines spread in bats
Numerous researchers:
Some 10 institutions around the world are doing important work
Theoretically, when a virus spreads in the natural environment, it can bring immunity to entire animal populations, prevent zoonotic spills, and eliminate sources that could trigger the next pandemic, according to reports. For example, if wild mice carrying the deadly Lassa virus are vaccinated, the risk of future outbreaks in humans may be reduced.
In fact, this is not the first time scientists have conducted research on self-transmitting viruses, a concept that has been around for years. In the 1980s, an Australian research project attempted to use self-transmitting viruses to eliminate pests. In 2000, Spain tried to take similar measures to protect native wild rabbits. But in the end, both plans came to an abrupt halt due to warnings that the potential consequences were too severe.
However, over the past 20 years, scientists have continued to conduct experiments and continue to this day, attracting the attention of the U.S. military. In 2016, there was renewed interest in the concept with the European Union, the National Institutes of Health and the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) funding proposals for "immunization of wild animals using self-transmitted viruses." Today, self-propagating virus research has become an area that is constantly evolving and growing. Currently, there are about 10 institutions around the world that are doing important work in this area. These laboratories are mainly located in the United States, and some are located in Europe and Australia.
DARPA-funded Preempt Project
In the United States, a four-year research project has just concluded that attempts to mathematically determine strategies for deploying a vaccine against the self-transmitting virus. Meanwhile, a DARPA-funded experiment is underway to determine whether a lab-modified self-transmitting animal vaccine can prevent the pathogen from spreading to the area where U.S. military personnel are located. According to the data, the project, called the Preempt Project, is "creating the world's first prototype of a self-transmitting virus vaccine that induces high levels of herd immunity (wildlife population protection) against Lassa and Ebola viruses."
Extremely risky:
Once released, it is no longer controlled
Related technologies may be misused to develop biological weapons
Although it is technically feasible to use self-transmitting virus vaccines to combat emerging infectious diseases such as COVID-19, AIDS, Ebola and Zika, how to weigh these benefits against possible greater risks is a problem.
Many scientists believe that self-transmitting virus vaccines are at very high risk. For example, who decides when and where the viral vaccine should be released? Once released, the virus is no longer in control, it can mutate like any virus, can spread across species, across borders, and can have unintended consequences at any time.
Dr. Filipa Renzos said in an interview that the vast majority of people working in the fields of virology, evolutionary biology, vaccine development, international law, public health and biological risk management believe that "laboratory-modified self-transmitted viruses are genetically unstable and cannot be used predictably in the environment, especially as mammalian vaccines." ”
Proponents behind these proposals claim that they can fine-tune the virus to predetermine its lifespan to prevent it from evolving once it is released into its natural environment. Felipa Renzos' team said the claims were untested and stressed that the scientific community has historically been skeptical of these theories.
Another major concern is "dual-use." As this area is gradually expanding, so does the potential for misuse of related technologies. Essentially, a study to develop a vaccine for self-propagating viruses to prevent disease could also be used to deliberately create harm. For example, a virus that resembles natural HIV and causes the immune system of an infected person or animal to fail, or a virus can be designed to trigger a harmful autoimmune response that attacks healthy cells and tissues.
Foreign media reports pointed out that although researchers only intended to create self-transmitting virus vaccines, the science and technology they developed may be used by "people with hearts" to develop biological weapons.
In response, The Filipa Renzos team called on the international community to act immediately, "If the scientific community and the international community do not have an open and inclusive engagement with potential benefits, risks and appropriate preventive measures, self-propagating viruses may be developed very quickly and may have irreversible consequences for the planet's biodiversity, ecosystems and environment." ”
Red Star News reporter Xu Huan
Edited by Pan Li
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