APRIL 2012
A F F I L I AT E S L E T T E R The official newsletter for FEMS Affiliates
Also in this issue: Publications corner: • The most downloaded articles of the FEMS Journals in 2011 • Journal highlights from FEMS Microbiology Ecology and FEMS Microbiology Letters Grants page: • Deadline and Application checklist for FEMS Research Fellowships • Deadline and Application checklist for FEMS Visiting Scientist Grants Society Page: • The Belgian Society of Microbiology Initiatives News: • Register for the Coinfections 2012
The new issue of the FEMS Focus is now available. This time, the topic is the controversy aroused by the H5N1 research of virologist Dr Ron Fouchier.
It aims to present the facts otherwise neglected by streamline media because stories on security were always given more emphasis on the headlines.
Dr Fouchier and his team discovered that H5N1 can be transmitted by air -- a discovery that is a breakthrough. The manuscript on the research has been submitted to Science but censored by the National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity in the United States.
This story is not only presented from the side of safety experts but from the viewpoint of science as well. FEMS took on this responsibility because it is, after all, “the voice of Microbiology in Europe.”
Due to the censorship, a public debate arose: “Can this be done to science?” Biosecurity experts believed that not all the details of the Fouchier research should be published. The science community was adamant that scientific freedom must be respected and protected. Apart from the non-publication of Fouchier’s research, a 60-day moratorium was also applied to the research itself. The moratorium was lifted only after the deadline. The publication of the research was allowed afterwards.
Grants deadlines List of FEMS-sponsored meetings in May and June Microbiology tidbits
This Focus issue summarizes the events that took place during the H5N1 controversy and presents two compelling interviews with Dr Fouchier and biosecurity expert Dr Hugues Tolou.
New issue of the FEMS Focus featuring the H5N1 controversy, now available. Get your copy by clicking on the image.
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