Why on earth is research performed in order to identify human health threats “controversial”?
Zoonotic (of animal origin) viruses and other pathogens are huge human health threats. The more we learn about them, the better prepared we are to fight them.
Look at human history before scientists learned about germs and disease transmission. Life spans were short, and there was little to do in the event of an outbreak. Many infectious diseases which have afflicted humans came from animals. Measles, for example, is thought to have come from rinderpest, a cattle disease. Influenza, plague, rabies, and HIV all originated in animals.
Nowadays, we can study wildlife and determine whether pathogens in that wildlife have a potential to infect humans. Knowing that a virus circulating in animals in Thailand is a potential human pathogen is a first step in (hopefully) preventing its jump into humans. The more we know, the more able we are to mitigate human health threats.
Or, maybe we should stop all research and then be taken completely by surprise the next time a pandemic capable pathogen jumps into humans? How many people would die if we went back to the days of ignorance and superstition that existed before the scientific method was developed?
Research performed in order to identify human health threats is one thing, Gain of Functioning them are crimes against humanity by HerrDoktor FauxiMengeleGates, Daszak, et al.
naivete thy name is exDemMom