“The less we do with the smallpox virus in the way of manipulation at this point, the better off we are.”
D. A. Henderson, who led the successful drive to eliminate smallpox, on WHO plans to seek approval for genetic manipulation of smallpox virus (The Independent, London, 22 January)
“I’m not sure we’ve ever been that precise but it’s accurate enough. We’ve always said [we’ll give away] the vast majority.”
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Bill Gates agreeing with estimates that through the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation he will give away around 95 per cent of his $46 billion fortune to organisations like the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (The Guardian, London, 25 January)
“The soldier’s weapon is not at his shoulder, it’s up to half a mile away.”
Bob Quinn, spokesman for the company that is sending a metre-high remote-controlled robotic machine gun to assist US troops in Iraq (Associated Press, 22 January)
“He’s dangerous. He publicly posts working cellphone viruses that any clown anywhere can easily download and use.”
Security expert Mikko Hypponen on Marcos Velasco, the Brazilian who has posted a Bluetooth phone virus on the web (The New York Times, 24 January)
“The privacy of farmers is not an issue. You can see a speck, but you don’t know if it’s a person, an animal or a tractor.”
A European Commission spokesman defends the use of satellite imaging to monitor farmers’ complicity with EU rules (The Times, London, 24 January)
