Controversial flu research is set to resume in countries such as the Netherlands and Germany, it was announced yesterday.
Two research teams agreed to suspend their work a year ago after revealing that they were studying genetic changes to the bird flu virus, H5N1.
Their alterations had made it possible for ferrets to infect each other with the virus.
It caused a major international scare because although the research aimed to identify the risks of the virus becoming infectious to humans, critics claimed it could have that effect.
Yesterday the researchers said they had agreed on a moratorium to allow time to explain the public health benefits of their work and to set out how risks were being minimised.
It also allowed governments to review their policies.
Dozens of researchers signed a letter published in the journals Science and Nature.
They say the aims of the moratorium have been met in some countries and say they have a "public health responsibility" to resume the work.
As the USA has not yet decided its policies on the research, the scientists will not be using US facilities.
They write: "We fully acknowledge that this research — as with any work on infectious agents—is not without risks.
"However, because the risk exists in nature that an H5N1 virus capable of transmission in mammals may emerge, the benefits of this work outweigh the risks."
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