Shortly before Thanksgiving science reporters and bloggers began buzzing about a newly created, genetically modified version of the deadly bird flu that could easily be transmitted between ferrets, which closely mimic the human response to flu.
….”It’s interesting that this research became a concern, because from my perspective I’m not worried about it,” Paul Umbeck, the director of UW-Madison’s environment, health and safety department, says after outlining for a reporter a lengthy list of federal and institutional regulations and safeguards in place to help oversee such potentially dangerous experiments. “But cutting-edge is always going to be somewhat controversial to somebody.” Or, in this case, seemingly to most everybody.