Gain of function (GoF) research is when scientists in a laboratory purposefully cause mutations that give viruses new abilities, such as transmissibility from animals to humans.
SARS-CoV-2
The SARS-CoV-2 virus did not occur in nature.[1] Its genome was "inconsistent with evolutionary theory."[2] On January 9, 2017, the Obama White House Office of Science and Technology Policy restored funding for gain-of-function research to the Wuhan Institute of Virology for research on the bat coronavirus to make the virus transmissible to humans.[3][4] The funds were administered by Dr. Anthony Fauci,[5] the chief medical advisor to the president.[6] Fauci extended the funds,[7] but did not gain approval from a mandatory Department of Health and Human Services review board as required first.[8]
References
- ↑ https://www.heraldopenaccess.us/openaccess/coronavirus-is-a-biological-warfare-weapon
- ↑ https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/bies.202100015
- ↑ https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/2017/01/09/recommended-policy-guidance-potential-pandemic-pathogen-care-and-oversight
- ↑ https://www.phe.gov/s3/dualuse/documents/p3co-finalguidancestatement.pdf
- ↑ https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/stacey-lennox/2021/05/13/dr-fauci-saying-the-nih-never-funded-gain-of-function-research-at-the-wuhan-lab-is-evasive-at-best-n1446170
- ↑ https://www.niaid.nih.gov/about/director
- ↑ https://thefederalist.com/2021/02/17/infamous-wuhan-lab-authorized-to-receive-us-taxpayer-funding-nih-confirms/
- ↑ https://www.nationalreview.com/news/hhs-board-never-approved-wuhan-institute-of-virology-research-grant/