One Good Reason to Let Smallpox Live
It's now a fair bet that we will never see the total extinction of the smallpox virus. The idea was to cap the glorious achievement of 1980, when smallpox was eradicated in the wild, by destroying the killer virus in the last two labs that are supposed to have it — one in the US and one in Russia. If smallpox had truly gone from the planet, what point was there in keeping these reserves?
(51)reality, of course, it was naive to(52)that everyone would let(53)of such a potent potential weapon. Undoubtedly several nations still have(54)vials.(55)the last 'official' stocks of live virus bred mistrust of the US and Russia,(56)no obvious gain.
Now American researchers have(57)an animal model of the human disease, opening the(58)for tests on new treatments and vaccines. So once again there's a good reason to(59)the virus — just in(60)the disease puts in a reappearance.
How do we(61)with the mistrust of the US and Russia?(62). Keep the virus(63)international auspices in a well-guarded UN laboratory that's open to all countries. The US will object, of course, just as it rejects a multilateral approach to just about everything. But it doesn't(64)the idea is wrong: If the virus(65)useful, then let's make it the servant of all humanity — not just a part of it.