He says the risky research needs stronger oversight rather than an outright ban.
President Donald Trump issued an executive order restricting “gain-of-function” scientific research this week. The practice of experimenting with viruses and pathogens in order to understand and counter them threatens world health with potential pandemics as it increases their infectiousness to humans.
The White House said the order “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.”
“For decades, policies overseeing gain-of-function research on pathogens, toxins, and potential pathogens have lacked adequate enforcement, transparency, and top-down oversight,” the White House release explained. “Researchers have not acknowledged the legitimate potential for societal harms that this kind of research poses.”
The White House continued that the president’s order “protects Americans from dangerous gain-of-function research that manipulates viruses and other biological agents and toxins, but it 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.”
As the Lord Leads, Pray with Us…
- For President Trump as he seeks to prevent the potential of gain-of-function research to release another pandemic outbreak.
- For Secretary Kennedy and officials in HHS, NIH, and CDC to be prudent in their oversight.
- For American scientists and researchers to be discerning in their experiments with pathogens.
Sources: NPR, Independent Journal Review
