{"podcast":{"title":"Science From the Fringe","slug":"science-from-the-fringe-7022876","podcast_index_feed_id":7022876,"rss_url":"https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/2993630.rss","website_url":"https://sciencefromthefringe.substack.com/podcast","image_url":"https://substackcdn.com/feed/podcast/2993630/d91b66b74de8cb1ef1343a4d7fd9041e.jpg","author":"Science From the Fringe","episode_count":53,"summary":"Conversations with fearless scientists, policy experts, and journalists who are defying dogma and defending discovery.","last_synced_at":"2026-07-26T22:20:31.042819+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/science-from-the-fringe-7022876"},"episode":{"title":"“Really Scared” ... But Not Enough to Act (In Defense of Virology - Episode 6)","slug":"really-scared-but-not-enough-to-act-in-defense-of-virology-episode-6","published_at":"2026-01-19T16:18:08+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/science-from-the-fringe-7022876/really-scared-but-not-enough-to-act-in-defense-of-virology-episode-6","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/science-from-the-fringe-7022876","url":"https://sciencefromthefringe.substack.com/p/really-scared-but-not-enough-to-act","audio_url":"https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/184916780/92dfc33cf9da6a0b9555f6f00e9f237f.mp3","summary":"In the sixth episode of In Defense of Virology , Rutgers professor and Science From the Fringe host Bryce Nickels speaks with distinguished virologist Simon Wain-Hobson about a potentially catastrophic biosafety issue: the human H2N2 influenza virus is not classified as a federal select agent, yet live samples remain stored in laboratory freezers around the world. The discussion is prompted by Simon’s recent essay, “ The virus not on the Select Agent list. ” The discussion centers on a concerning exchange between NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya and NIAID Acting Director Jeffrey Taubenberger on an August 2025 episode of The Director’s Desk podcast . During that conversation, Taubenberger—a prominent influenza researcher best known for his role in the highly controversial resurrection of the deadly 1918 “Spanish flu” virus—said that the virus responsible for the 1957 pandemic, H2N2, poses a serious concern. He noted that since 1968, no one has been exposed to this virus, even though it was fully adapted to humans. Despite this, H2N2 is not a select agent. Taubenberger explained that his lab voluntarily handles it under the same conditions as the 1918 virus, though such precautions are not required, and acknowledged that H2N2 likely remains in clinical, diagnostic, and basic virology laboratory freezers around the world. He admitted that this situation “really scares” him, since most of the global population born after 1968 lacks immunity to H2N2—a virus known to have already caused a pandemic. Simon highlights Taubenberger’s striking acknowledgment that live H2N2 stocks persist in numerous laboratories without select agent designation or enhanced biosafety requirements. This stands in sharp contrast to the 1918 influenza virus—reconstructed by Taubenberger himself—which is…","meta_description":"In the sixth episode of In Defense of Virology , Rutgers professor and Science From the Fringe host Bryce Nickels speaks with distinguished virologist Sim…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":1483,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/science-from-the-fringe-7022876/episodes/really-scared-but-not-enough-to-act-in-defense-of-virology-episode-6/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/science-from-the-fringe-7022876/really-scared-but-not-enough-to-act-in-defense-of-virology-episode-6.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}