Scientists warn that thanks to a controversial viral synthesis, smallpox could once again wreak its havoc on the globe. It’s been described as the deadliest disease in human history claiming 500 million lives in the 20th century before being eradicated.
Scientists are now concerned that controversial experiments in which researchers recreated a related horsepox virus from scratch could make its deadly cousin equally replicable. Researchers at the University of Alberta caused quite a stir last year when news broke that they had pieced together the extinct horsepox virus (which does not pose a direct threat to humans) by assembling fragments of DNA purchased over the internet for around $100,000. Continue reading “Scientists Warn: World Is Susceptible To Smallpox After Controversial Viral Synthesis”