The Trump administration is preparing an executive order that would stop federal funding for gain-of-function (GOF) research, The Wall Street Journal reports. Gain-of-function is a controversial area of virus-related research that has been widely debated since the COVID-19 pandemic.
The research modifies a virus to increase its transmissibility, virulence or ability to evade the immune system. Essentially, it makes the virus more dangerous and deadly than its natural state.
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Scientists in favor of GOF research argue that it can provide crucial insights into how viruses evolve and spread.
People familiar with the matter, who spoke anonymously to the Journal, said the goal of the executive action would be to prevent U.S.-funded scientists from conducting GOF research on viruses that could threaten human health.
There is also a possibility that H5N1, also known as bird flu, could be exempt from the order.
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., and other Republicans have been critical of gain-of-function research. They claim that COVID-19 is the product of it and leaked from a lab at the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
Paul has accused Dr. Anthony Fauci, the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, of knowingly funding gain-of-function research at the Wuhan lab with federal funds.
The origin of the COVID-19 pandemic remains undetermined. In October 2021, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence released a declassified report asserting that it could not conclusively prove the origins of COVID-19.
The president has not finalized his executive action.
