Morning Briefing

In this Scientific American opinion piece, author and former staff writer at Scientific American John Horgan examines "a bitter debate" among scientists over the publication of controversial H5N1 research, writing, "Research involving the bird-flu virus H5N1 poses an especially knotty dilemma, in which scientists' commitment to openness -- and to reducing humanity's vulnerability to potential health threats -- collides with broader security concerns." Horgan provides some statistics on H5N1 infection, recounts a brief history of the research in question and suggests four options to resolve the dilemma.