Recreating the 1918 Flu Virus That Killed 40M People

This is idiotic. Of course we should research viruses. Thoroughly. Of course it's dangerous. So is getting out of bed in the morning; so is driving to work. Not researching viruses is far more dangerous than what he's doing. Life is a series of risk assessments; this is a good one. Asking the question should be a formality for the journalist. Giving it more than a paragraph of coverage is exhibiting ignorance of the most basic level of medical understanding.

This article is okay, but it is a shining example of the recent, disappointing editorial shift at PM. It's always been aimed at a popular audience (haha), but recently, there is a focus on articles with a strong narrative and lots of relatable human moments (He likes jazz!), with little or no actual information.

I mean, the risk of different animal strains mixing in the wild is presented as the Hokey-Pokey, you put the bird flu in, you put the swine flu in, you shake it all about, etc.

There's also stupid misinformation presented about dangerous things; two I remember are a warning not to use an uninsulated tool to cut a live wire (especially for their audience, just don't do it!) and a warning to back off of ABS brakes if you need to steer.

Isn't humanity resistant to this virus now?

What could possibly go wrong?