Let’s review. Sometime last year, two independent research groups submitted papers to Science and Nature describing experiments involving the H5N1 avian flu virus. Both groups had created strains of H5N1 that could be transmitted through the air between mammals, a trait that wild-type H5N1 viruses do not possess. The head of one of the groups, Ron Fouchier of Erasmus Medical Center in the Netherlands, had given a talk on the work at an influenza conference in Europe in September. Although Scientific American reported on the talk and the conference, the research did not garner much attention. In November, the Center for Infectious Disease Research & Policy (CIDRAP) at the University of Minnesota reported on its website that the National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity (NSABB) was scrutinizing the Dutch research because of its potential “dual use” nature. Still, no one seemed to pay much attention. Then all hell broke loose. ...