This seems link bait-y to me: "That said they created a life-threatening virus that is only 3 percent different from the 1918 Spanish flu"

I bet the flu itself changed that much in nature between 1918 and now all on its own.

For reference 4% difference is between humans and apes.:

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/08/0831_050831_...

I'm not saying creating a deadly virus is ethical. Personally, I think it is under sufficiently tight controls...since these things exist in nature and if we don't understand them, we risk a repeat of 1918.