The Potential Dangers of Genetic Engineering.

      The debate over the dangers and merits of genetic engineering has raged ever since the first experiments were done.  Shortly after they began working with these techniques, the scientists involved called a moratorium on their own work so that they could establish standards to ensure that such research was done in a safe and ethical manner.  Still, concerns have lingered over what could happen if an experiment went wrong, what might happen if a genetically engineered organism was intentionally released into the wild (a common practice, particularly in agriculture), or if an altered organism fell into the wrong hands.  More fuel was recently added to the fire with the development of a strain of bird flu, or H5N1, that can easily be passed from person to person and is just as lethal as the original strain.  The difficulty of passing the virus from one person to another played a large role in preventing the initial outbreak from becoming a global pandemic.  The exact way in which the virus was altered to allow easy transmission is unclear, but likely involves some sort of recombinant DNA technology that added a gene that allows the virus to be passed through the normal methods of transmission, such as inhaling airborne particles or touching contaminated surfaces.  Currently, the paper is under review for publication and is also being reviewed by a federal biological security board to ensure that it does not provide the means to creating the deadly virus to groups with nefarious purposes.
      Viruses, bacteria, and other communicable diseases are spread when they exit one host and enter a new one.  They most commonly leave the original person through bodily fluids such as mucus, which can be spread by sneezing, coughing, or touching a surface when the pathogen is on the infected person's skin.  To enter a new host, there must be an entry point available, such as the mouth, eyes, nose, or a cut in the skin.  These entry points allow the disease to bypass the bodies first line of defense and enter the person's respiratory tract, digestive system, or possibly even their bloodstream.  Once it has entered its victim, the pathogen replicates, spreads around the body and brings about various symptoms.  In the case of H5N1, it usually causes symptoms that are normally associated with the flu, such as body aches and fever, and can potentially lead to life-threatening complications of the respiratory system as well as other infections, such as pneumonia.  It is the severity of the infection and the high mortality rate - over 50% of confirmed cases - that makes H5N1 such a threat, and many would argue that the experiments done to make it more communicable should not have been performed since they made a deadly disease even more dangerous.
      There are legitimate benefits that may come about from this experiment.  One is that it shows that H5N1 could mutate to a more virulent form which should help to keep people aware of it and help prevent more cases from occurring.  Another benefit is that it allows scientists and doctors to get ahead of the virus, giving them time to develop treatments that are effective against the virus and, possibly, a vaccine for it.  Developing a vaccine from this strain is not guaranteed, however, as if H5N1 does undergo a mutation making it more infectious in the real world it may not be exactly the same as the one done in the lab and the vaccine may not prevent infection by the "real" version.  However, understanding how diseases like this are passed on a genetic and molecular level could help researchers develop more effective vaccines not only for H5N1, but for a wide variety of diseases.  In order to prevent the release of this strain into the population, whether accidentally or intentionally, safeguards that are already in place should be followed, and additional ones may be necessary to ensure that those with access to information about the strain or the virus itself are not passing it on to unauthorized people.  A measure that could be taken that would greatly reduce the risk of an incident would be to further alter the bacteria so that it is not resistant to any antiviral medications.  This would mean that if the communicable strain did start a pandemic, doctors would have several treatment options for those who were infected.
      These principles regarding safety should be (and in many cases already are) applied to all forms of genetic engineering.  As long as research is done in a safe and ethical manner that reduces the risk of undesirable outcomes as much as possible, genetic engineering and other related fields offer many avenues that can benefit everyone.