Trump prevents new pandemic with bold gain-of-function research ban
President Donald Trump signed a new executive order on Monday that slammed the brakes on federal funding for gain-of-function research - a type of biomedical research that many believe caused the Covid-19 pandemic.
According to the White House, the executive order aims to “improve the safety and security of biological research in the United States and around the world” by banning “any present and all future Federal funding of dangerous gain-of-function research in countries of concern like China and Iran and in foreign nations deemed to have insufficient research oversight.”
The order also gives American research agencies the power to spot and stop federal funding for risky biological experiments that could endanger our health, safety, or national security.
Additionally, Trump’s executive order blocks federal funding from supporting foreign research “likely to cause another pandemic.”
“These measures will drastically reduce the potential for lab-related incidents involving gain-of-function research, like that conducted on bat coronaviruses in China by the EcoHealth Alliance and Wuhan Institute of Virology,” the White House said.
Gain-of-function research is a broad area of scientific study that examines how and why organisms experience genetic mutations that trigger a new or enhanced ability or cause the loss of an ability.
“A key area of GOF research is the study of both naturally occurring and experimentally induced changes in organisms to better understand the transmission, infectious properties, and pathogenesis of viruses,” the Congressional Research Service explained in Global Pandemics: Gain-of-Function Research of Concern.
“Some argue that GOF research may improve understanding of human-pathogen interactions, aid in assessments of potential pandemic pathogens, and further public health preparedness,” it continued. “Others have raised concerns that studies designed to understand how viruses might evolve may generate pathogens that affect humans and have the potential to cause a pandemic.”
Trump’s bombshell order “protects Americans from lab accidents and other biosecurity incidents, such as those that likely caused COVID-19 and the 1977 Russian flu.”
The White House noted that the order “does not impede productive biological research that will ensure the United States maintains readiness against biological threats and continues to drive global leadership in biotechnology, biosecurity, and health research.”
With one bold order, Trump delivered on two huge promises: Make America Safe Again and Make America Healthy Again.
“It’s a big deal. It could have been that we wouldn’t have had the problem we had,” Trump said while signing the order, referring to the Covid-19 pandemic.
