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Science Friday > Archives > 2002 > September > September 13, 2002:
Hour One: West Nile / Scientific Freedom / Cloning Problems

Join us for a science news wrap-up in this hour of Science Friday. We'll be taking a look at three different stories:

First, West Nile virus continues to spread around the country. We'll talk about the growth of the mosquito-borne disease outbreak, efforts to limit its spread, health effects, and the disturbing possibility that some West Nile illnesses may have been caused by tissue transplants carrying the virus.

Next, we'll take a look at science and secrecy. While scientific progress depends on the free exchange of information, the increasing focus on security in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and the anthrax attacks that followed has some scientists questioning the degree to which some scientific information should be available. We'll talk about the conflict between openness and security, and whether scientists engaged in certain types of research may be facing new restrictions on publication and exchange of their data.

We'll finish the hour with a look at a new study on the genetics of cloning. Work published this week suggests that cloned mice, rather than being exact copies of their parent, have hundreds of errors in their genetic material. We'll talk about why, and what the finding might mean for the spread of cloning technology.

Call in with your comments and questions at 1-800-989-8255, and share your opinions online in our Listeners' Lounge (registration required).

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Guests:
Lyle Petersen
Deputy Director
Division of Vector-Borne Infectious Diseases
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Atlanta, Georgia

Ronald Atlas
President, American Society for Microbiology
Professor, Biology
Graduate Dean
Co-director, Center for Deterrence of Biowarfare and Bioterrorism
University of Louisville
Louisville, Kentucky

Rudolf Jaenisch
Member, Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research
Professor, Biology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Cambridge, Massachusetts

Books/Articles Discussed:

"Abnormal gene expression in cloned mice derived from ES cell and cumulus cell nuclei" by David Humpherys, Kevin Eggan, Hidenori Akutsu, Adam Friedman, Konrad Hochedlinger, Ryuzo Yanagimachi, Eric S. Lander, Todd R. Golub, and Rudolf Jaenisch. PNAS Early Edition.

(find more SciFri books here)

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Related Links:
CDC Media Relations - West Nile Virus Update
CDC West Nile Virus Home Page - Division of Vector-Borne Infectious Diseases (DVBID)
Questions and Answers About West Nile Virus - CDC Division of Vector-Borne Infectious Diseases (DVBID)
TIME.com: What To Do About West Nile
CNN.com: West Nile reaches West Coast - September 7, 2002
NY Times: Transplants Seem Source of West Nile Virus Cases

NY Times: Sept. 11 Strikes at Labs' Doors
Regulatory Alert on Select Agent Possession
POLICY GUIDELINES OF THE PUBLICATIONS BOARD OF THE ASM Research Standards and Practices to Prevent Destructive Application of Advanced Biotechnology
AAAS Science and Policy Programs
Nat'l Academy Press, Scientific Communication and National Security (1982), Table of Contents
Scientists Worry Journals May Aid Terrorists
Technology Review - Science and Secrets

Wired.com: Study: Humans Not Fit for Cloning
Boston Globe Online / Nation | World / Study sees faint hope on human cloning
Health - canada.com network

This segment produced by Karin Vergoth and Dorothy Lam

 

 

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