Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) is sponsoring legislation with Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS) to place a moratorium on gain-of-function (GOF) research, problems with which many believe played a role in the outbreak of COVID-19.
GOF experiments enhance the severity or transmissibility of a virus or other biological agents. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) have condoned such research “to help us understand the fundamental nature of human-pathogen interactions, assess the pandemic potential of emerging infectious agents and inform public health and preparedness efforts.” The NIH have however acknowledged major “biosafety and biosecurity risks” that warrant meticulous oversight.
The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DRTA) have provided grants in the past to EcoHealth Alliance, a company that has engaged in such risky research in partnership with China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) where the novel coronavirus is theorized to have originated.
EcoHealth Alliance President Peter Daszak coauthored a 2016 report with WIV researcher Shi Zhengli in the Journal of Virology documenting the discovery of coronaviruses found in bats and tests performed to gauge the dangers those viruses pose to human cells. Despite a 2017 article in the journal Nature raising concerns about the safety of this research, EcoHealth and WIV would continue to collaborate on coronavirus experiments.
In April 2020, President Donald Trump cancelled a $3.7 million grant to EcoHealth for research on coronaviruses harbored by bats, though it is uncertain to what extent any federal agency may continue to subsidize the corporation’s GOF studies. The nonprofit organization Empower Oversight Whistleblowers & Research (EMPOWR) has sent inquiries to the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DRTA) and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to determine what contracts might remain active between the federal government and EcoHealth.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, head of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has drawn heavy scrutiny for facilitating the funding of GOF studies. A freeze on subsidizing this type of research was in place between 2014 and 2017, but Fauci and other health-research officials were able to pursue funding through exemptions in that moratorium. In a statement on her legislation to pause GOF funding, Blackburn castigated both Fauci and the Biden White House which has relied heavily on him when it comes to making COVID policy.
“The Biden administration dropped the ball in determining the origins of COVID-19,” Blackburn said. “Biden’s Chief Medical Advisor, Anthony Fauci, has been a leading advocate for deadly gain-of-function research, and the Wuhan Institute of Virology received American taxpayer dollars to fund GOF research on his watch. We must halt GOF research until we can determine the necessary safety guardrails.”
She said this not long after COVID-19’s official death toll surpassed 750,000 Americans. Worldwide, the virus has been found to have caused nearly 5 million fatalities.
“It’s outrageous that a comprehensive global investigation on the origins of COVID-19 has still not been carried out, and with mounting evidence pointing towards the labs in Wuhan, additional guardrails on gain-of-function research must be established to make sure nothing like this ever happens again,” Marshall, a physician, lamented. “For the last decade, Dr. Fauci has funded gain-of-function research on SARS viruses, and until we get to the bottom of the origins of COVID-19, the federal government should not provide another dime in funding for viral gain-of-function research in the name of global health.”
Tennessee Sen. Bill Hagerty (R) is a cosponsor of Marshall and Blackburn’s moratorium legislation. Seven of their Republican colleagues, but no Democrats, have joined them so far.
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Bradley Vasoli is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Brad on Twitter at @BVasoli. Email tips to [email protected].
So if this legislation somehow passes and gets signed into law, is this Empty Suit hoping it will be enforced in Wuhan….lol….
Oh…Marsh, Marsh, Marsha….
Why on Earth would they do that? We need more man-made viruses released into the community so that Pfizer can profit from more vaccines. It’s a win-win for everyone.