Morning Briefing

"We can worry less that a newly created bird flu virus might kill tens or hundreds of millions of people if it escaped from the laboratory," a New York Times editorial states. "But there is still some residual danger. And we remain appalled at the slipshod way in which this research was authorized despite its potential dangers to public health and national security," the editorial continues. The editorial provides a recap of the controversy leading up to the National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity's recommendation to publish the studies in late March, and writes, "The board's new verdict is not wholly reassuring."