The two influenza researchers whose work has triggered a far-reaching debate on the limits of scientific freedom could hardly have handled their publicity more differently. Ron Fouchier, who has a paper under review in Science, welcomed reporters to his lab at Erasmus AAC in Rotterdam last month, donned a lab coat for the cameras, and helped the center's spokespeople prepare statements in Dutch and English on why he created what he believes to be a virus with the potential to cause a pandemic and why the full details of the study should be published. He landed on the front page of The New York Times, was attacked by bloggers, and news anchors mangled his name. (It's foo-SHAY.) But Fouchier had a point to make: He had nothing to hide. Yoshihiro Kawaoka, meanwhile, appeared to be in hiding. He didn't, as reporters say, respond to multiple requests for comment, including for this story; it was hard to know whether he was at his lab at the University of Wisconsin (UW), Madison, where his H5N1 study now under review at Nature was done, or at the University of Tokyo's Institute of Medical Science, where he has an appointment as well. As a result, he literally managed to stay out of the picture. News stories focused on Fouchier; many didn't even mention Kawaoka.
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