IT WAS supposed to deter would-be terrorists from making smallpox virus, not turn legitimate vaccine researchers into criminals.
Under the US law 18 USC 175(c), it is illegal to produce, engineer, synthesise or acquire a virus containing 85 per cent or more of the genetic sequence of variola, which causes smallpox. That could include vaccinia, a related but harmless virus used in vaccine research.
No wonder the National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity is calling for the law to be repealed, even though no one has been prosecuted so far.
The NSABB’s plea is contained within a set of…
