Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, January 17, 1994 TAG: 9401170230
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: PRAKASH NAGARKATTI
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
She gives a lopsided view regarding the decision to postpone the destruction of the last remaining smallpox virus, blaming some misguided scientists and soft-headed ecologists for this decision. It should be noted that scientists are divided on this issue. Does the eradication of a disease from the world warrant the destruction of the last traces of the live virus? The following reasons argue against this destruction, at least immediately:
There's no guarantee that destruction of the two stockpiles of the deadly virus now preserved in Atlanta and Moscow means the total eradication of the virus. Somewhere in the world there may be another vial of the virus, or tissue of a person who had suffered smallpox serving as the potential source of the virus. Also, with the recent political turmoil in Russia, it's not clear whether the destruction in the future can be accomplished without any fear. This situation is somewhat similar to the elimination of nuclear weapons.
The proponents of virus destruction state that the virus can be a tempting target for terrorists or guerrillas. However, a vaccine is available against smallpox, whereas, there are several other deadly viruses, bacteria and their toxins, as well as deadly chemicals, against which vaccines are lacking. Thus, why incriminate only smallpox as a potential agent of biological warfare?
The accidental release of the virus from the research laboratory remains a genuine concern. However, it should be noted that the previous accidents took place in laboratories that did not take proper precautions. Thus, research on smallpox virus can be limited to a few laboratories in the world that have the necessary state-of-the art facilities. Also, smallpox can be easily contained through vaccination, unlike several other deadly infectious agents that are undergoing extensive research currently and against which vaccination is not available.
While destruction of the smallpox virus can give a false sense of security, there's always the possibility that other related pox viruses, such as monkeypox virus that's known to infect humans, can become virulent in the future and cause a disease similar to smallpox.
By contrast, the knowledge that scientists can gain on the smallpox virus and the mechanism by which it induces the disease can be exploited to obtain vital information on other infectious agents that evade the action of our defense mechanism or the immune system. Although humans are currently the natural hosts for smallpox virus, with the new technology of transgenic mice or severe- combined-immunodeficiency mice bearing human cells, it's possible in the future to use such models to study the mechanism by which smallpox virus causes the disease and how it evades our immune system. Such basic information can be extremely useful in the future to fight against infections such as AIDS, as well as to understand why the immune system fails in certain diseases such as autoimmunity and cancer.
Thus, scientists are not waiting to score the final victory by destroying the last vial of stored virus. They celebrated their final victory when they wiped the smallpox disease from the face of this Earth several years ago.
The killer has been caught and imprisoned. Should we send the prisoner to the electric chair in haste or keep him in a heavily guarded prison for further analysis? I think we should wait until all the mysteries of the killer are unveiled.
Prakash Nagarkatti is an associate professor of microbiology and immunology in the Department of Biology at Virginia Tech.
by CNB