Although the scientists performed the research to help development of new vaccines as well as trace smallpoxs history, the possibility of the techniques being used for nefarious purposes was immediately recognized, raising questions on dual use research and regulations.In September 2019, the Russian lab housing smallpox samples experienced a gas explosion that injured one worker. It did not occur near the virus storage area, and no samples were compromised, but the incident prompted a review of risks to containment. Society and culture
Biological warfare
In 1763, Pontiacs War broke out as a Native American confederacy led by Pontiac attempted to counter British control over the Great Lakes region. A group of Native American warriors laid siege to British-held Fort Pitt on June 22. In response, Henry Bouquet, the commander of the fort, ordered his subordinate Simeon Ecuyer to give smallpox-infested blankets from the infirmary to a Delaware delegation outside the fort. Bouquet had discussed this with his superior, Sir Jeffrey Amherst, who wrote to Bouquet stating: "Could it not be contrived to send the small pox among the disaffected tribes of Indians? We must on this occasion use every stratagem in our power to reduce them." Bouquet agreed with the proposal, writing back that "I will try to inocculate  [sic] the Indians by means of Blankets that may fall in their hands".
However, in 2004, a committee advisory to the WHO voted in favor of allowing editing of the genome of the two remaining samples of Variola major to add a marker gene. This gene, called GFP, or green fluorescent protein, would cause live samples of the virus to glow green under fluorescent light. The insertion of this gene, which would not influence the virulence of the virus, would be the only allowed modification of the genome. The committee stated the proposed modification would aid in research of treatments by making it easier to assess whether a potential treatment was effective in killing viral samples. The recommendation could only take effect if approved by the WHA. When the WHA discussed the proposal in 2005, it refrained from taking a formal vote on the proposal, stating that it would review individual research proposals one at a time. Addition of the GFP gene to the Vaccinia genome is routinely performed during research on the closely related Vaccinia virus. Controversies
The public availability of variolas complete sequence has raised concerns about the possibility of illicit synthesis of infectious virus. Vaccinia, a cousin of the smallpox virus, was artificially synthesized in 2002 by NIH scientists. They used a previously established method that involved using a recombinant viral genome to create a self-replicating bacterial plasmid that produced viral particles.In 2016, another group synthesized the horsepox virus using publicly available sequence data for horsepox.