It’s now a fair bet that we will never see the total extinction of the smallpox virus. The idea was to cap the glorious achievement of 1980, when smallpox was eradicated in the wild, by destroying the killer virus in the last two labs that are supposed to have it—one in the US and one in Russia. If smallpox had truly gone from the planet, what point was there in keeping these reserves?

　　in reality, of course, it was naive to imagine that everyone would let goof such a potential weapon. Undoubtedly several nations still have a few much vials. And the last “official” stocks of lice virus bred mistrust of the US and Russia, for no obvious gain.

　　Now American researchers have found an animal model of the human disease, opening the way for tests on new treatments and vaccines. So one again there’s a good reason to keep the virus—just in case the disease puts in a reappearance.

　　How do we_deal with the mistrust of the US and Russia? Simple Keep the virus under international auspices in a well-guarded UN laboratory that’s open to all countries. The US will object, of course, just as it rejects a multilateral approach to just about everything. But it doesn’t mean the idea is wrong. If the virus is useful, then let’s make it the servant of all humanity—not just a part of it.

　　译文：

　　一个让天花存在的好理由

　　目前很可能我们永远都不会看到天花的彻底绝迹。这个观念掩盖了1980年光辉成就，那时消灭了最后两个拥有这种致命病毒的实验室的病毒后，四处蔓延的天花已经被根除了。那两个实验室，一个在美国，一个在俄国。如果天花真的在这个星球上消失了，那么保留这些储备的意义何在?

　　当然，事实上想像每个人都会放弃这样一种有效的潜在的武器是幼稚的。无疑，几个国家仍旧有几瓶。美俄最后的“官方”的活病毒储备引起大家对这两个国家的不信任，因为并没有获得明显的收获。

　　现在美国研究者们发现了人类疾病的动物版，为试验新的治疗方法和新的疫苗开辟了道路。因此，再次存在着一个保存病毒的理由——万一这种病卷土重来。

　　我们怎样应付对美国和俄国的不信任呢?很简单。把病毒放在国际赞助的、被严密监视和向所有国家开放的联合国实验室中。针对的对象当然是美国，因为它反对任何事务的多边化。但是这并不意味着这个想法是错的。如果病毒是有用的，那么让我们把它变成全人类的奴仆——而不是一部分人的。

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（实习编辑：高奕飞）