DNA-virus utplockat och "driftsatt" på egen hand
En del av vår genetiska kod innehåller sekvenser som är virus som permanent har tagit sig in i vår arvsmassa. Ett sådant virus har man nu tagit baklänges, dvs plockat ut ur arvsmassan och gett liv som egen fri agent. Var det så bra?
Läs mer: Viral Fossil Brought Back to Life -- Enserink 2006 (1101): 4 -- ScienceNOW
Others worry that the study sets a dangerous precedent. Although it was approved by the French research ministry's Genetic Engineering Committee, Richard Ebright, a molecular biologist at Rutgers University in New Jersey, says any study that creates new viruses or activates old ones should be subject to a special review at the national or international level. What's more, he says, because the researchers couldn't be absolutely sure about Phoenix's infectivity, the study should have been carried out under Biosafety level 4 conditions--the best-protected labs available--instead of the level 3 conditions utilized.
Läs mer: Viral Fossil Brought Back to Life -- Enserink 2006 (1101): 4 -- ScienceNOW