A team of Canadian researchers synthesized the horsepox virus, which is related to smallpox, with DNA materials obtained through the mail at an estimated cost of about $100,000, according to a report from Science.
Here are four things to know.
1. The horsepox virus is thought to no longer exist in nature and is not viewed as a major agricultural threat.
2. Virologist David Evans, PhD, of the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada, led the research team. Dr. Evans hopes the research will shed light on the components of the centuries-old smallpox vaccine to facilitate the creation of more efficacious vaccines and cancer therapeutics, according to the report.
3. The team's work has not yet been published, but it will likely spark debate over how similar experiments should be regulated, as it raises concerns about terrorists or rogue states using weaponized biotechnology.
"Bringing back an extinct virus that is related to smallpox, that's a pretty inflammatory situation," Paul Keim, PhD, who was not involved the study, but has spent the bulk of his career studying anthrax at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, told Science. "There is always an experiment or event that triggers closer scrutiny, and this sounds like it should be one of those events where the authorities start thinking about what should be regulated."
4. Dr. Evans acknowledged the research could be used for either good or bad.
"Have I increased the risk by showing how to do this? I don't know," Dr. Evans told Science. "Maybe yes. But the reality is that the risk was always there."
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