Scientists Put An End To Moratorium On Bird Flu Research

Controversial experiments on bird flu could resume within weeks because leading influenza researchers around the world have finally called a halt to an unusual moratorium that has lasted more than a year.

The voluntary pause in the research started back in January 2012. Scientists had genetically altered the bird flu virus H5N1, changing it in ways that allowed it to spread through the coughs and sneezes of ferrets — the lab stand-in for people.

But the experiments caused a public outcry. Critics charged that if the man-made viruses ever got out of the lab, they could be contagious in humans and start a deadly pandemic.