The Extreme Of Science

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The Extremes of Science

INTRODUCTION

The world revolves around science. Science can determine human, animal and nature

existence and on the other hand, science can also terminate the existence. As far as human beings

and diseases are concerned science takes a big role in research and innovating medications to

cure those diseases. Science is needed in determining the make-up, the reproduction of the

viruses and how the viruses can be eradicated to assure human existence. Many scientists have

spent their entire life researching, testing and making discoveries about diseases and vaccines to

cure them. However, still with the major steps, the scientists have made in the world of viruses

and medication, there is an argument that most of the dangerous pandemics ever to happen in

various parts of the world were developed and made in the laboratories that are supposed to look

for a cure. With evidence of scientists getting infected by their own creation and other infections

causing millions of deaths. There are so many questions surrounding the subject of whether the

studies and laboratory trials are beneficial to human beings or they cause more harm than good.

This research paper explores whether the scientific experiments have caused more harm than

good to human beings.

LITERATURE REVIEW

Specter Michael wrote an article entitled The Deadliest Virus, in his work he focused on

what scientist have been able to do to salvage the critical pandemic situations. Specter

interviewed differently scientists who have worked in different disease control department and

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scientist who have worked in the most delicate laboratories across the globe. First, he talked to

Keiji Fukuda World Health Organization's headquarters, in Geneva. Fukuda worked as assistant

director-general for health, security, and environment, overseeing influenza planning at the time

of the interview. Fukuda and other researchers were doing a research on how the bird flu infected

and killed millions of birds and a number of people in Hong Kong (Specter 1). The group did not

make progress with findings and so they decided to kill all the birds in Hong Kong and the

disease disappeared only to appear later in Thailand. H5N1 was the virus causing the flu but

scientists needed to discover how the virus was transferred from birds to humans because it was

not scientifically possible. Discovering the connection was the only way to stop the flu from

killing people. The scientist took to the laboratory to uncover the truth, ferrets were used in the

lab to study how the virus mutated in the human body (Specter 2). Fouchier also examined the

virus and found out that with its kind of multiple mutations, it was going to be hard to eradicate it

completely. Yoshihiro Kawaoka did another time the same research which ended up creating a

horrifying type of the same virus. The finding only led the scientists to be more worried that the

virus could be used as a terror weapon.

Specter also interviewed Osterholm, the director of the Center for Infectious Disease

Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota Health Center. Osterholm was one of the

experts on influenza and bioterrorism at the time. Osterholm expressed his fears that most of the

laboratory works could be used by terrorist to cause massive death. The expert gave an example

of a medical photographer who died in England through a smallpox virus made in the lab where

she was working (Specter 3). He also gave an instance where H1N1--"swine flu was stored

between northern China and Russia border and would later spread to the rest of the world

causing many deaths. According to Osterholm, many people are infected with mistakes made in

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the laboratory, a case of a scientist in Russia contracted Ebola and a lab technician in Hong Kong

was infected with SARS.

Specter also interviewed Anthony S. Fauci, who had worked for a long time as chief of

the Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Anthony argued that scientific studies and

statistics were very important in the world of diseases and doing away with these researchers

would leave the world at a standstill. Fauci disputed the fact that the studies, especially for flu,

could be used as a terror weapon because of its nature that cannot be controlled (Specter 4).

According to him, abandoning the studies and lab trial just because a few people were

unfortunate to contact virus, does not save the world from diseases.

Jernigan and other scholars did a study investigating the case of bioterrorism that took

place in the United state in 2001. Ten cases were reported of people who had contracted anthrax

from an intentional release of Bacillus anthracis. The scholars’ found out that all the people who

contracted the disease got it from mails and packages sent to them by unknown individuals. the

study was done the cases were reported in four districts in united states Columbia, Florida, New

Jersey, and New York. The study established that the B. anthracis spores were present in emails

and letters the infected persons received (Jernigan et al. 933). Seven of people were employees in

a postal office, two of them worked for a media company while the last person had received a

personal package. The virus that caused the infection could only be passed from animals to

people which not scientifically as possible meaning that the packaged virus was developed in a

laboratory somewhere and sent to the individuals.

Zika was a virus known well in the 1940s in the African countries and it was restricted to

Africa. However, in 2015 the virus reemerged in many states in the world making the World

Health Organization to declare it as serious world virus. Since 2015 many countries and

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governments have been working tirelessly in the efforts to eradicate the virus. 46 countries

reported that they had experienced Zika virus for the first time while 14 had already been

experiencing the virus since 2007 (WHO 1). Though the researchers show that the virus is

caused by the mosquito little is known about how the virus can be eradicated. The WHO

launched a research that was supposed to study every scientific aspect of the virus in order to

look for the cure. The research found out that the virus infected both old and young. The

pregnant mothers were most affected by the virus, with their children being born with

disabilities. The earlier mentioned indicated that the virus was an epidemic one that required

immediate attention. Laboratory technicians were required to carry out and maintain a landscape

analysis of commercially available tests. Secondly, they were to establish a consultative process

to develop a target product. Thirdly, they were also to make a profile for Zika virus diagnostics

to detect active infection and Implement an Emergency Assessment procedure for timely

availability of quality assured diagnostics for Zika virus. Lastly, the scientists were supposed to

develop WHO biological standards for Zika (WHO 2). The WHO showed the importance

scientist play in ensuring that different health department achieves their goals of protecting

people from deadly viruses.

The epidemic of chikungunya is one of the viruses that has kept scientist in the

laboratories working for long hours to provide a long-lasting solution to the virus. It was in 2005

when the first virus of the Chikungunya stroke in the union of Comoros. Researchers then got on

the field look for answers of what was causing the virus, its effects and what could be done to

eradicate the virus. The researchers collected samples of mosquitos in the affected areas;

stagnant waters were also tested for the cause of the virus (Sang et al. 77). The samples were

collected from different places and were retested more just to be sure of the results.

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ANALYSIS

According to the literature reviewed, it is clear that there is a controversy between the

risks and the benefits of the viral scientific laboratory tests and trial. Different studies show the

benefits of the trials while some other researchers show risks. Scientists argue that whether with

risks or benefits there is no way no cure for epidemic infections. The scientist says that once a

new virus or bacteria has affected and infected people, studies to learn the nature of the virus or

the bacteria has to be carried out. The laboratory trials are supposed to give the way forward of

how to deal with the virus. in most cases, the scientists are able to come up with conclusive ways

of handling the virus and eventually the virus is eliminated saving millions of the lives of people.

Some other times the studies are not so conclusive but preventive measures are found which still

controls the situation.

However, the researchers are not always 100% credible leading to scientific errors and

mistakes. Some of the mistakes lead to the creation of more deadly virus instead of finding the

cure. The creation of more deadly virus is the main reason why people think that science can be

used to make bioterror weapons. Other laboratory errors lead to the creation of monsters which

act as a threat to human life. Though there are high-security measures in the laboratories that

conduct these studies, to some extent the virus get to harm the scientist and in other incidences

gets out and end up the public. In most case, the deadly created virus or monsters get to hurt few

people before it is controlled again.

CONCLUSION

According to the literature reviewed, it is clear that the scientific trials with efforts of

finding a cure for the epidemic viruses have both risks and benefits. However, comparing the

risks and the benefits, the benefits take the credit as per the research reviewed in this paper.

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When the risk occurs only a few numbers of people are harmed. With a strange disease and no

knowledge of how to handle it, millions of people end up dying even before the cure is found.

The paper, therefore, concludes that scientist should be allowed to carry out researchers and

laboratory trials whenever serious cases arise.

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Works Cited

Jernigan, John A., et al. "Bioterrorism-related inhalational anthrax: the first 10 cases reported in

the United States." Emerging infectious diseases 7.6 (2001): 933.

Sang, Rosemary C., et al. "Entomologic investigations of a chikungunya virus epidemic in the

Union of Comoros, 2005." The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene 78.1

(2008): 77-82.

Specter, Michael. "The Deadliest Virus." The New Yorker, no. 4, 2012. EBSCOhost. 165.193.

World Health Organization. "Zika virus research agenda." (2016).

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