Medical Journal Ends Moratorium on Controversial Bird Flu Study

Published June 21, 2012

The prestigious research journal Science has published a controversial study and several companion articles describing how mutations to the H5N1, or avian flu, virus can turn it into a more virulent form -- able to infect and spread among humans. This raises the possibility of a lethal pandemic. Late last year, a moratorium was placed on the research amid worries that it could fall into the hands of terrorists. As Vidushi Sinha reports, publishers have now decided the study's scientific importance outweighs that security concern:.