We’ve just been treated to the spectacle of Dr. Anthony Fauci being grilled in front of a Senate hearing, chaired by Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), who is a medical doctor himself. The gist of all the fuss around Fauci, of course, is his possible involvement in the development, or at least the funding of, the Wuhan Institute of Virology in Wuhan, China. This lab is the suspected origin of the COVID-19 virus, and is known to have been involved in potentially deadly gain-of-function research, with funding from the United States – which made up much of the questioning, that Anthony Fauci refused to answer.
Now, the Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Dr. Jay Bhattasharya, has announced that the NIH is adopting a risk-based policy, which they are calling the “U.S. Government Policy for Stopping High-Risk Life Sciences Research.”
The X post reads in full:
During my confirmation hearing, I pledged to the American public that I would implement strong and transparent oversight of NIH-supported research.
Now, I am pleased to share the new U.S. Government Policy for Stopping High-Risk Life Sciences Research, a groundbreaking government-wide mandate that expressly prohibits gain-of-function research which can significantly endanger American lives and jeopardize our Nation’s security.
You can view the full statement here. Here’s the key part of that:
This groundbreaking government-wide policy establishes, for the first time, an explicit prohibition on dangerous gain-of-function research which can significantly endanger American lives and pose substantial risk to our Nation’s security.
The new U.S. Government-wide policy represents a paradigm shift in federal oversight by adopting a comprehensive, risk-based framework supported by strong enforcement, accountability, and transparency measures. In addition to the ban on federal support for dangerous gain-of-function research, the policy introduces enhanced review and reporting requirements for all life sciences research, including independent, top-down assessments for projects that may increase the harmful consequences of biological agents.
The policy also strengthens global safeguards by instituting new international restrictions, including banning life sciences research involving certain countries or entities and prohibiting high-risk work in countries lacking adequate oversight.