Posted on 10/02/2021 4:08:38 AM PDT by Kaslin
Editor's noteThis column was co-authored by Alexis Baden-Mayer.
Dangerous gain-of-function experiments that supercharge viruses to make them deadlier and more contagious to humans are at the center of investigations into the COVID’s origins. Many experts in the scientific and intelligence communities—and a majority of Americans—believe that U.S. taxpayer-funded gain-of-function experimentscaused the pandemic through an accidental lab leak. Fortunately, lawmakers from both sides of the aisle are uniting to crack down on this risky research.
Congressmen Buddy Carter (R-GA), Henry Cuellar (D-TX), and Mike Gallagher (R-WI) have just introduced the Pausing Enhanced Pandemic Pathogen Research Act to halt taxpayer funding for gain-of-function experiments for the next five years. This commonsense bill should be enacted with haste.
As Rep. Carter said, “We knew the dangers of gain-of-function research, but the National Institute of Health and Dr. Fauci continued to fund it in America and overseas. Evidence continues to mount that COVID-19 originated from the Wuhan Institute of Virology with research funded by U.S. taxpayers. We must double down on our efforts to prevent irresponsible research and protect our communities from future pandemics.”
These concerns aren’t new. Gain-of-function experiments were first paused in 2014 by the federal government because of safety concerns, including fears that they could cause a pandemic, following safety lapses at labs in China and elsewhere.
Unfortunately, gain-of-function funding resumed in 2017, a move celebrated by longtime gain-of-function champion Anthony Fauci and others. After the moratorium was lifted, gain-of-function projects were supposed to undergo a rigorous review process. However, the NIH has admitted that it never reviewed the coronavirus gain-of-function experiments it funded in Wuhan, and Fauci and colleagues have reportedly worked to weaken oversight of gain-of-function work.
The result? As Rep. Cuellar said, “Gain-of-function research has been directly linked to the spark of the coronavirus pandemic.”
With our tax dollars, the Wuhan Institute of Virology engineered coronaviruses to be more dangerous in facilities without adequate safety protocols. Recently released documents show that the manipulated coronaviruses in WIV’s animal experiments were 10,000 times stronger than natural viruses. Scientists and even the U.S. State Department have been warning about the risks of this Wuhan lab’s bat coronavirus research for years. Now, because of the NIH’s lax oversight, the gain-of-function experiments it funded may be responsible for the deaths of over 4 million people worldwide.
To stem this scary science, since early 2021 our organizations have been calling on the Biden Administration to reinstate the 2014 moratorium. So far, to no avail.
But, this is what Americans want. An April 2021 poll of 1,000 voters by Lincoln Park Strategies found that 55% of them—59% of Republicans, 60% of Democrats and 49% of independents—want to defund gain-of-function research.
Lawmakers are listening. Earlier this year, the Senate passed an important measure led by Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) to permanently cut funding for gain-of-function experiments in China. And Reps. Cuellar, Carter and Gallagher’s new bill would halt U.S. funding for this research in China, the U.S. and beyond.
Taxpayers should not be forced to fund reckless research that places public health in peril.
for what purpose is it to manipulate a virus that is typically in animals with no way of jumping into the human population and making it into a pandemic killer. Its all for a purpose
I could actually see a wartime purpose for that, but paying your probable enemy in that war to develop it for you? That would have to be one of the dumbest ideas in history. No wonder Fauci is trying his best to hide its origin.
The (by NOW) obvious ‘purpose’ was to f %@k with a US National Election
Dr. Fauci thought it was worth the risk to fund Chinese bioweapons research.
From the first time I heard of, and saw Fauxi, I felt a slight sense of discomfort, a slight sense of rotting flesh, my 'spidey senses' were tingling, something akin to, but not quite like my 'gaydar' going off. A while ago, I realized that he reminded me of a little troll, or an evil elf.
While there needs to be *restrictions* on gain-of-function research, it should not be banned outright, as the vast majority of its research does not involve pathogens, or importantly, *human* pathogens.
That is, there are many diseases that only attack harmful insects, and for many years there have been efforts to cultivate these diseases.
There is gof research on bacteria that help plants fix nitrogen in the soil. But even there, some *restrictions* are warranted. There needs to be studies about how gof microorganisms function with other microorganisms, etc.
i still do not undersatnd why american tax dollars are funding research in foreign country in the first place
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