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? {{U}} {{U}} 1
{{/U}} {{/U}}reality, of course, it was naive to {{U}} {{U}} 2
{{/U}} {{/U}}that everyone would let {{U}} {{U}} 3 {{/U}}
{{/U}}of such a potent potential weapon. Undoubtedly several nations still have
{{U}} {{U}} 4 {{/U}} {{/U}}vials. {{U}} {{U}} 5
{{/U}} {{/U}}the last "official" stocks of live virus bred mistrust of the US
and Russia, {{U}} {{U}} 6 {{/U}} {{/U}}no obvious
gain. Now American researchers have {{U}} {{U}} 7
{{/U}} {{/U}}an animal model of the human disease, opening the {{U}}
{{U}} 8 {{/U}} {{/U}}for tests on new treatments and vaccines. So
once again there's a good reason to {{U}} {{U}} 9 {{/U}}
{{/U}}the virus—just in {{U}} {{U}} 10 {{/U}} {{/U}}the disease
puts in a reappearance. How do we {{U}} {{U}} 11
{{/U}} {{/U}}with the mistrust of the US and Russia? {{U}} {{U}}
12 {{/U}} {{/U}}. Keep the virus {{U}} {{U}} 13 {{/U}}
{{/U}}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 {{U}} {{U}} 14
{{/U}} {{/U}}the idea is wrong. If the virus {{U}} {{U}} 15
{{/U}} {{/U}}useful, then let's make it the servant of all humanity—not just a
part of it.