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X Demographics
Mendeley readers
Attention Score in Context
| Title |
The Irrationality of GOF Avian Influenza Virus Research
|
|---|---|
| Published in |
Frontiers in Public Health, July 2014
|
| DOI | 10.3389/fpubh.2014.00077 |
| Pubmed ID | |
| Authors |
Simon Wain-Hobson |
| Abstract |
The last two and a half years have witnessed a curious debate in virology characterized by a remarkable lack of discussion. It goes by the misleading epithet "gain of function" (GOF) influenza virus research, or simply GOF. As will be seen, there is nothing good to be gained. The controversial experiments confer aerosol transmission on avian influenza virus strains that can infect humans, but which are not naturally transmitted between humans. Some of the newer strains are clearly highly pathogenic for man. It will be shown here that the benefits of the work are erroneous and overstated while the risk of an accident is finite, if small. The consequence of any accident would be anywhere from a handful of infections to a catastrophic pandemic. There has been a single open international meeting in this period, which is surprising given that openness and discussion are essential to good science. Despite US and EU government funding, no risk-benefit analysis has been published, which again is surprising. This research can be duplicated readily in many labs and requires little high tech. It falls under the definition of DURC without the slightest shadow of a doubt and constitutes the most important challenge facing contemporary biology. |
X Demographics
The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 28 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| United States | 4 | 14% |
| France | 2 | 7% |
| Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of | 1 | 4% |
| Germany | 1 | 4% |
| Israel | 1 | 4% |
| Taiwan | 1 | 4% |
| United Kingdom | 1 | 4% |
| Bolivia, Plurinational State of | 1 | 4% |
| Unknown | 16 | 57% |
Demographic breakdown
| Type | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Members of the public | 24 | 86% |
| Scientists | 2 | 7% |
| Science communicators (journalists, bloggers, editors) | 1 | 4% |
| Practitioners (doctors, other healthcare professionals) | 1 | 4% |
Mendeley readers
The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 27 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Unknown | 27 | 100% |
Demographic breakdown
| Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Student > Bachelor | 6 | 22% |
| Professor | 3 | 11% |
| Student > Master | 3 | 11% |
| Researcher | 3 | 11% |
| Other | 2 | 7% |
| Other | 6 | 22% |
| Unknown | 4 | 15% |
| Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Agricultural and Biological Sciences | 5 | 19% |
| Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology | 5 | 19% |
| Medicine and Dentistry | 3 | 11% |
| Immunology and Microbiology | 2 | 7% |
| Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutical Science | 1 | 4% |
| Other | 5 | 19% |
| Unknown | 6 | 22% |
Attention Score in Context
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 53. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 05 January 2024.
All research outputs
#806,564
of 25,641,627 outputs
Outputs from Frontiers in Public Health
#411
of 14,369 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#7,620
of 242,275 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Frontiers in Public Health
#7
of 66 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 25,641,627 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done particularly well and is in the 96th percentile: it's in the top 5% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 14,369 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 10.5. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 97% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 242,275 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 96% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 66 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has done well, scoring higher than 89% of its contemporaries.