What's happening?

It may sound like a strange decision. Scientists at Boston University in the USAThe United States of America is a country in North America. It has a population of 329 million. decided to see if they could make a new version of Covid-19The official scientific name for the type of coronavirus that swept the world from March 2020. which would spread easily and be very deadly. Now, we know that their plan worked. 

There are several reasons why scientists might try to create a diseaseAn illness or sickness. in a lab. They can be used to find out where a disease came from, work out how an illness spreads or find new ways of treating illnesses.

But some say the risk of this research is just too great. It is impossible to say a building is 100% secure and that a disease will never accidentally spread.

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Is this a bad idea?

Yes! The world is still battling with Covid-19. It would be terrible if an even worse version escaped from a lab and killed many. 

No! There are good reasons to do this research. We can find out more about Covid-19 and stop more pandemics.