Re:“This shouldn’t happen”: Inside the virus-hunting nonprof...
by nicoburns on Friday April 01, 2022 @06:00AM
(#30876621)
I think that the covid pandemic is highly unlikely to be the result of such research. It's much more likely to be the result of research into how to prevent future pandemics and treat coronaviruses.
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Re:“This shouldn’t happen”: Inside the virus-hunting nonprof...
by mattcwilson on Saturday April 02, 2022 @02:15PM
(#30890361)
Ok, I think that’s reasonable. At the level of individual research directors, I agree that probably the large majority of them have good intentions.
My concern is that there aren’t just altruistic research directors. There are funders. There are politicians. There are militaries. There are covert agents. And I get really concerned how easy it is for actors with less savory, noble intentions to coopt naive researchers into participating in a larger agenda.
It’s super convenient for everyone to be able to have the plucky, innocent, earnest research director come out with shining optimism about the potential. And it’s a convenient reason not to totally slam the brakes on research that, for better or worse, may lead (may have led) to global pandemic.