Keeping Pathogen Codes Secret May Not Be Safe
From Times Staff and Wire Reports
Making the genetic codes of dangerous pathogens a secret will not save anyone from bioterrorism and may make the population vulnerable to attacks from Mother Nature, scientists said Thursday.
Scientists now freely share information on the genomes of all sorts of bacteria and viruses, many of them potential biowarfare agents, and that should continue, the National Research Council committee said. The committee noted that complete genome sequences of more than 100 pathogens were already available on the Internet.
