Gain of Function
A euphemism for development of biological weapons
GOF is a pleasant term for altering previously benign microbes into agents of terror. The term used is weaponization. A while back Michael Chricton wrote a book (Virus) that was turned into a movie that portended what we experienced in 2019.
An argument is ongoing whether COVID-19 originated in the wild or was produced in the Wuhan Virology Laboratory. Unbelievably the answer depends upon whether you are a Republican or a Democrat.
GOF has been studied for decades. It is nothing new or groundbreaking.
In The Scroll Seigel and Cooper talk about ‘The Big Story”, The White House said on Monday it would support state science laboratories conducting controversial gain-of-function (GoF) research, just as a new Department of Energy report said the COVID-19 virus likely originated after a GoF accident at a laboratory in Wuhan, China. “[The president] believes there has to be legitimate scientific research into the sources, or potential sources, of pandemics,” John Kirby, National Security Council spokesman, said at a White House press conference. Research like GoF, which involves tampering with viruses to make them more dangerous in order to better understand them and create prevention measures, “must be done in a safe and secure manner and as transparent as possible to the rest of the world.” As Norman Doidge pointed out in Tablet in February 2021, “GoF research is also the meat and potatoes of germ warfare, the manufacture of biological weapons, and—perhaps—measures to counter them.” Their credo is you have to make the germs to learn how to kill them. Each side of the germ warfare scenario is guessing which microbes the other side is developing. It is a bit like the nuclear arms race. Theoretically (or actually) a vault of biological weapons and vaccines is stored, just in case. Once a candidate vaccine is made then newer mRNA technology can create a huge armory of vaccines in a short time. The prospect of having a vaccine takes the burden off protagonists since a rapid antidote could be available. Perhaps we need a new moratorium on biological weapon research just as we did with nuclear weapons.
The Daily Signal stated that Wuhan Lab was funded by the EcoHealth Alliance, a global non-profit scientific research center through the Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease [NAID], headed by Fauci. EcoHealth is known for research into the critical connections between human, animal, and environmental health. The report also stated that the fund was granted without proper review and that the funding also covered gain-of-function research on a bat coronavirus, which might have created SARS-CoV-2. We were relatively lucky with this most recent outbreak of SARS Covid. It might have been much worse. Covid 19 created severe illness in old, infirm, and immune-suppressed patients. Young adults and children had flu-like illnesses. The morbidity and lethality of COVID-19 were much less than the media frenzy would indicate.
The politicization of truth vs fiction will carry forth into the 2024 Presidential campaign. Republicans are more than twice as likely than Democrats to back the lab leak theory
While over 2 in 5 U.S. adults said they believe the pandemic began because the virus spilled from the Wuhan lab, roughly 1 in 4 think the virus moved naturally from animals to humans. Both figures are virtually unchanged since a June 2021 survey on the topic.
About 2 in 3 Republicans back the theory that the virus leaked from a lab, more than double the share of Democrats (32%) who said the same. Meanwhile, just 14% of Republicans believe the pandemic began because of the natural transmission of the virus, compared with 39% of Democrats.
Among independents, 43% said they don’t know or have no opinion on the pandemic’s origins, while 38% believe the virus leaked from a lab, and 19% believe it was transmitted naturally. Even more interesting are these pronouncements;
Fact Check: Did Anthony Fauci Fund Bat Research in Wuhan Lab by Bypassing Rules?
We have to go back two decades to find how the NIAID funded scientists both in the United States and around the world for GOF research. A quick study on Medline reveals how many papers were published during this time period on GOF. I remember when I was an NSF grantee in 1964 reading about GOF.
Antony Fauci, the chief medical advisor to the President of the USA, is under attack by Republicans yet again. This time, he is being called the father of the actual virus, referring to coronavirus. Some publications also claimed that Fauci had bypassed rules to fund bat research in Wuhan Lab. Here is a fact check.
Various reports including the one published in The Daily Signal stated that Wuhan Lab was funded by the EcoHealth Alliance, a global non-profit scientific research center through the Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease [NAID], headed by Fauci. EcoHealth is known for research into the critical connections between human, animal, and environmental health. The report also stated that the fund was granted without proper review and that the funding also covered gain-of-function research on a bat coronavirus, which might have created SARS-CoV-2.
Working on these biological agents is like standing next to a nuclear reactor. You are safe only if the shielding works.
There is a process for research grants that applicants must reveal procedure, caution, and diligence in their facility to be granted NIH funding for said research. Whether these provisions were applied to Wuhan has never been disclosed. Was it Fauci’s responsibility? We will never know. There is a lot to unwrap.