The federal government is keeping a trove of documents on dangerous gain-of-function biological research, and Sen. Rand Paul will retract them even though it's in the public's interest. He says that he has failed in particular.
“What we discovered is that there was a treasure trove of information about dangerous research all collected and stored in one place,” Paul (R-Tenn.) told the Post in an exclusive interview. .
He said these files could be the key to figuring out exactly how the coronavirus outbreak originated in Wuhan, China, and how U.S. funds were involved. He said he hopes the new Trump administration will help.
“We're getting close to starting a full-scale investigation because I think by January we'll have a friendly government and we'll have all the information,” he added.
document reveal Since 2012, the U.S. government has been collecting information about dangerous research practices, including gain-of-function research (the practice of amplifying the active parts of viruses to make them more dangerous in order to study them).
Paul's office was informed by a whistleblower that the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) had known about these reports for years.
This information is collected and reviewed twice a year under a policy called the U.S. government's Concern Life Sciences Dual Use Research Oversight Policy.
a policy documents Its purpose is to collect information about “life science research that could be directly exploited to pose a serious threat to public health and safety or national security with wide-ranging potential impacts.” states.
For Paul, this was an acknowledgment that public health officials knew long before the COVID-19 pandemic that controversial research practices like gain-of-function were potentially dangerous. It's a thing.
Many experts speculate that the new coronavirus infection is the result of gain-of-function research conducted at the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
The situation worsened when it was revealed that funds from the United States were being provided to the institute. The National Institutes of Health awarded EcoHealth Alliance a $4 million grant to study bat coronaviruses at a lab in Wuhan, according to a House committee investigation.
“Many claim that EcoHealth Alliance conducted gain-of-function research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology. That is completely untrue,” EcoHealth Alliance stated in a statement About suspicion.
“EHA and its sub-awardee, the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV), had been studying coronaviruses in bats, but none had been proven capable of infecting humans.”
It is unclear at this time whether documentation regarding that particular grant was collected and reviewed Although this is done based on policy, Paul thinks it is very likely. “Here's the question: If they thought it was dangerous enough to monitor the White House, were the Wuhan findings sent to them?”
If so, the trove of documents could definitively reveal the origins of the coronavirus and reveal which U.S. health officials approved funding for research in Wuhan.
On Monday Paul sent a letter to Arati Prabhakar, White House OSTP Director, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and president biden.
OSTP did not respond to The Post's request for comment.
He requested unredacted copies of “any confidential reports” submitted for agency oversight of concerning life science dual-use research. We have also informed you to preserve all relevant documents and correspondence.
Paul, a doctor, has been writing to dozens of government agencies and the White House for years, requesting documents that may contain clues about the origins of the coronavirus.
“No one was willing to help us,” he said. “What we get continues to be very little. We have a huge document, 250 pages long. [but] Everything is edited. ”
Paul believes that government agencies have become so opaque as to obscure responsibility for dangerous research.
“We believe that this research [at Wuhan] It has been reviewed,” Paul said. “What I've always wanted from the beginning is I want a discussion… Show me a discussion. It's not classified, it's not a secret, it's not like a nuclear bomb or anything.”
Paul also hopes the documents he has collected may reveal whether former National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director Dr. Anthony Fauci participated in approving research funding in Wuhan.
“It's not just about guilt,” Paul said of the campaign for documents. “I want to know where the safety processes that oversee this are broken. This is an argument about why we need legislation to make sure this doesn't happen again.”
he introduced Dangerous research review laws In July 2024, an independent Life Sciences Research Security Committee will be created within the executive branch to oversee high-risk research to prevent new pandemics.
Now that he has identified a potential treasure trove of information, he believes the Trump administration will be more aggressive in pursuing his requests to uncover what ultimately happened.
“I think we're still trying to figure out what happened with the coronavirus because we're very hopeful that we can solve everything,” Paul added.
