Nearly four months ago I stood at the front of a crowded classroom at Columbia University and began teaching the third year of my undergraduate virology course. Twice a week we discussed the basic principles of virology, including how virions are built, how they replicate, and how they cause disease. Yesterday was the 26th and last lecture in the course, entitled “H5N1″. In this lecture we covered the recent controversy over the publication of results on adapting avian influenza H5N1 viruses to transmit by the airborne route among ferrets. Fittingly, one of the two papers in question will be published tomorrow.
