WASHINGTON – On Monday, President Trump is set to sign an executive order to halt federal funding for research into risky gain-of-function studies in China, Iran, and other nations lacking proper oversight.
The directive will stop all future funding for such research, including initiatives by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and other organizations aimed at assessing threats to biological research or national security that could endanger public health.
“These actions will significantly reduce the risk of lab-related incidents, including gain-of-function research conducted by organizations like EcoHealth Alliance and the Wuhan Institute for Bat Coronavirus in China,” a release stated.
White House officials also criticized the Biden administration for permitting global experiments that might heighten the infectivity of viruses and bacteria.
Moreover, all studies on infectious pathogens and toxins will be put on hold until the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy formulates new policies that include enforcement and reporting requirements.
Since the emergence of SARS-Cov-2, which has led to the deaths of over a million Americans, there has been much debate among federal officials, lawmakers, and scientists about whether the virus resulted from gain-of-function research funded by the U.S. at the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV).
The NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), previously led by Dr. Anthony Fauci, allocated more than $1.4 million in grants through EcoHealth from 2014 to 2021 to investigate risks related to bat coronaviruses in Chinese labs.
According to former NIH Deputy Director Dr. Lawrence Tabak, this work constituted gain-of-function experiments at WIV, although he and other officials have denied a direct connection between this project and the pandemic.
Subsequently, former public health officials, including those from the FBI, Energy Department, CIA, and the Robert Redfield Center at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, identified laboratory leaks as the most plausible explanation for the outbreak.
