Gain of Function
From Jon
I find Ben Swaan to be pretty clear, not a lot of hype. I researched a bit on Gain of Function, and yes, to make Covid 19 virus is pretty easy now. This is short, except for the advert.
(Maybe this sorta goes along with the theory that the present round of vaccinations etc may be more preparation and infrastructure building for the next roll out, where something like this may be more “required”? Interesting thought!)
Jon
Questions about "GAIN OF FUNCTION" (GOF) research? GOF research involves modifying highly virulent flu pathogens to make them more easily transmissible. I am glad this is finally making news in main stream media, (Newsweek) though scientific and medical journals have been writing about this for some time now. In 2014 the administration of US President Barack Obama, due to ethical reasons, called for a “pause” on funding of Gain of Function (GOF) experiments involving influenza, SARS, and MERS viruses in particular.
A recent Newsweek article expresses it clearly: "Many scientists have criticized gain of function research, which involves manipulating viruses in the lab to explore their potential for infecting humans, because it creates a risk of starting a pandemic from accidental release...last year, the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases, the organization led by Dr. Fauci, funded scientists at the Wuhan Institute of Virology and other institutions for work on gain-of-function research on bat coronaviruses."
"Gain of Function" research aims to improve understanding of disease causing agents, their interaction with human hosts, and/or their potential to cause pandemics in order to better inform public health and preparedness efforts and/or development of medical countermeasures. In 2017, Bill Gates warned that “a fast-moving airborne pathogen could kill more than 30 million people in less than a year.
I would tend to agree with the decision of Obama's administration, that the potential risks involved with such research outweigh the benefits. I have pondered if it is possible if a careless lab worker doing research on "Gain of Function" (GOF) with dangerous pathogens could have unleashed the present COVID-19 pandemic. I don't think we will ever know how this virus started, but this may be a piece of the puzzle of the origins of COVID-19.