Food for thought! No doubt this has been a dangerous grey area for several decades of e.g. dual use!
Remember: Under Anthony Fauci so called gain of function research was funded by the US government at the Wuhan Institute of Virology (a dual use research institute) in China, where the Covid-19 coronavirus may have escaped (lab leak hypothesis). What moron ever had that great idea?
"A new U.S. policy that aims to reduce the risks arising from federally funded research with dangerous pathogens ...
Last year, in response to those concerns, President Donald Trump ordered the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and other research funding agencies to pause or review studies that potentially involved so-called dangerous gain-of-function (DGOF) research. Such experiments give pathogens new characteristics, such as the ability to more easily spread or cause death. The White House also tasked agencies with developing the new policy to stop other “high risk life sciences research.”
The 12-page policy—which broadly follows the language in Trump’s executive order—includes several departures from past U.S. attempts to govern similar work. It appears to cover all pathogens, rather than limiting regulation to a specific list, such as only those with “pandemic potential.” It requires researchers and universities to identify any study that might produce a biological agent that would “significantly endanger” people or agriculture. They must thoroughly evaluate its risks and benefits before submitting a funding proposal to the government. ...
In addition, the policy imposes an outright ban—rather than tighter review requirements—on funding for seven kinds of biological research that the policy defines as DGOF. That list of forbidden studies includes projects that could make a pathogen more transmissible, for instance, or better able to evade the human immune system. It also includes efforts to resurrect an extinct pathogen, such as the virus that caused the 1918 flu pandemic—a project completed in 2012 by a team led by one of NIH’s own scientists.
The policy also bars funding for studies in the nascent field of “mirror life”—engineered microorganisms with reversed molecular building blocks that could theoretically threaten all life on Earth. No governments have so far enacted bans on such research and the issue has divided scientists, with some calling such prohibitions premature. ..."
"... This comprehensive framework prohibits federally supported dangerous gain-of-function (DGOF) research while establishing stronger oversight for life sciences research that could pose significant risks to public health, biosecurity, or national security. The policy fulfills President Trump’s Executive Order aimed at improving the safety and security of biological research, and it ensures that taxpayer-funded research advances scientific discovery and medical innovation without exposing Americans to biological risks. ...
“Today, we are ending federal support for dangerous gain-of-function research and replacing weak oversight with clear, enforceable safeguards. ... ”Specifically, the new policy prohibits federal support for dangerous gain-of-function research conducted in the United States and abroad, establishes rigorous independent review for certain high-risk life sciences research, and restricts federal funding for research conducted in countries or institutions that lack appropriate biosafety, biosecurity, and oversight standards. At the same time, the policy preserves critical biomedical research — including the development of vaccines, therapeutics, diagnostics, and other medical countermeasures — under strong safety and security safeguards. ..."
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