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They did not 'shut him down': In 2012 it was a voluntary moratorium. Then in 2014 the Cambridge Working Group led to the WHITE HOUSE (Zero's WH) pause in research funding. i.e., safety concerns obviously scared the hell out of them, citing laboratory 'mishaps'.

To clarify, the H5N1 version they lab-created - which originally was reported to be 50% mortality rate - spread easily among ferrets. Yes, someone rang the alarm bells.

But the following is key:

"Federal officials are also asking the handful of researchers doing ongoing work in this area to agree to a voluntary moratorium."

So much for the research 'ban' fallacy. Not sure who started that BS.

Thus it now appears that they 'offshored' it and funneled funds through an intermediary, EcoHealth Alliance.

Clearly this was all with intent, but FReepers still aren't keen to the fact that 'GOF' research is very different than GOFOC...a distinction that I believe they created solely to obfuscate, just as we're seeing with the masked funding and word play by Fauxi.

To-wit:

Because the term “gain of function” in other contexts can be used to describe techniques of scientific research that have nothing to do with the creation of novel potential pandemic pathogens, .

Moratorium on Research Intended To Create Novel Potential Pandemic Pathogens

And:

In the United States, attention has been focused on delineating the risks and benefits of many different kinds of "gain-of-function" (GOF) experiments involving genetic alteration of influenza and other viruses. A consensus seems to have emerged that a very small subset of these experiments—those expected to produce viruses combining high lethality and high transmissibility—pose the greatest risk and deserve special attention, with some arguing for regulation. These experiments have been termed "gain-of-function studies of concern" (GOFoc) by the NSABB.

COMMENTARY: Six policy options for conducting gain-of-function research

I've addressed this previously:

https://freerepublic.com/focus/news/3959012/posts?page=27#27"

Interestingly, the other term they use to describe viruses created under GOFOC is potential pandemic pathogens (PPPs) (Klotz and Sylvester).

If you believe the early reports, China was experimenting with SARS-CoV-2 in 2018, having sequenced the bat virus RaBtCoV/4991 sampled from the cave in 2013.

The million dollar question is why China lied about it, coupled with why Fauxi continued to fund [the GOFOC] research via Peter Daszak's EcoHealth Alliance.

"Allowed it to happen in China" is much to polite a phrase, imho.