SOME PEOPLE BELIEVE THAT IT IS VALUABLE FOR SOCIETY TO EXPERIMENT WITH BACTERIA AND VIRUSES WHILE OTHERS FEEL THIS IS DANGEROUS AND SHOULD NOT BE DONE. DISCUSS BOTH VIEWS AND GIVE YOUR OPINION.

EXPERIMENTING WITH VIRUSES AND BACTERIA HAS BEEN CONSIDERED BY MANY PEOPLE TO BE OF A GREAT IMPORT TO THE SOCIETY.

ON THE CONTRARY

, SOME CRITICS BELIEVE THAT

THIS

SHOULD NEVER BE ENCOURAGED AS IT IS TOO RISKY. IN MY OPINION, I THINK VIRAL AND BACTERIAL RESEARCH IS ESSENTIAL BECAUSE AN ANTIDOTE WILL BE READILY AVAILABLE IN CASE OF ANY MICROBIAL OUTBREAK. ON ONE HAND, EXPERIMENT WITH MICROORGANISMS IS ESSENTIAL FOR THE WORLD.

THIS

IS BECAUSE THROUGH

SUCH

RESEARCH, SCIENTISTS GET TO UNDERSTAND THE PATHOGENESIS OF DISEASES CAUSED BY THESE PATHOGENS THEREBY PRODUCING DRUGS AND VACCINES AGAINST

SUCH

BIOLOGICAL AGENTS AS WELL AS RECOMMENDING SOME PRECAUTIONARY MEASURES AGAINST CONTRACTING THE DISEASES SHOULD THERE BE AN EPIDEMIC.

THAT IS

TO SAY THAT IF THE PATHOGEN CAUSING A DISEASE REMAINS UNKNOWN, THERE WOULD VIRTUALLY BE NO CURE FOR THE AILMENT CAUSED BY THE AGENT AND

SUCH

OUTBREAK WOULD BE DIFFICULT TO CONTAIN.

FOR EXAMPLE

, A RECENT REPORT BY CENTRE FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION SHOWS THAT THE PREVALENCE OF ROTAVIRUS HAS DRASTICALLY REDUCED BY 78% IN CHILDREN AGED 0-5 SINCE MOST PARENTS ADOPTED VACCINATING THEIR BABIES AGAINST THE VIRUS.

NEVERTHELESS

, SOME PEOPLE ARE OF THE OPINION THAT BACTERIAL AND VIRAL STUDY ARE TOO MUCH OF A RISK AND SHOULD NOT BE CARRIED OUT IN THE

FIRST

PLACE. THE MAJOR REASON FOR

THIS

IS THE TENDENCY OF THESE MICROBIAL AGENTS TO CAUSE A PANDEMIC IF THEY GET INTO THE WRONG HANDS. FOR INSTANCEE, IN NOVEMBER 1944, A BIOLOGICAL RESEARCHER WAS BRIBED BY A CERTAIN GOVERNMENT TO RELEASE SOME PARTICLES OF THE DEADLY BACILLUS ANTHRACIS THROUGH THE CENTRAL AIR-CONDITIONER IN AN AUDITORIUM DURING AN ECONOMIC CONFERENCE SO AS TO TERMINATE THE LIVES OF THEIR POLITICAL OPPONENTS. THE INCIDENCE LED TO CHAOS, PANIC ATTACK AND UNPRECEDENTED DEATHS IN THAT COUNTRY. IN CONCLUSION, WHILE MANY PEOPLE KICK AGAINST MICROBIAL STUDY, I BELIEVE

SUCH

RESEARCH IS NECESSARY BECAUSE OF THEIR POSITIVE IMPACT IN MEDICINE. IF

SUCH

RESEARCH IS IN PLACE AND HANDLED AS A CLASSIFIED INFORMATION, IT WILL BE EASY TO CONTAIN THE VIRUS OR BACTERIA SHOULD ANY EPIDEMIC OR PANDEMIC OCCUR.