Trump signs order ending federal funding for gain-of-function research

President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Monday that bans all federal funding for what he called "dangerous" gain-of-function virus research.

The White House stated that the order "will drastically reduce the potential for lab-related incidents involving gain-of-function research, like that conducted on bat coronaviruses in China by the EcoHealth Alliance and Wuhan Institute of Virology." The order is also meant to protect Americans from incidents "such as those that likely caused COVID-19 and the 1977 Russian flu." 

"In all of the history of Gain-of-Function research, we cannot point to a single good thing that has come of it,” said Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who appeared alongside Trump at the signing.

The order instructs US research agencies to identify and halt any biological research that could jeopardize public health or national security, such as causing another pandemic. It particularly cited research done in countries of concern such as China or any other country where there is not “adequate oversight to ensure that the countries are compliant with United States oversight standards and policies.” However, the White House emphasized the policy will not interfere with legitimate biological research aimed at strengthening US biosecurity and health research.

"For decades, policies overseeing gain-of-function research on pathogens, toxins, and potential pathogens have lacked adequate enforcement, transparency, and top-down oversight," the White House said in a fact sheet alongside the order. "Researchers have not acknowledged the legitimate potential for societal harms that this kind of research poses." 

The announcement comes after the White House published new findings related to the COVID-19 pandemic. The administration reaffirmed the belif that the virus likely originated from a lab leak at the Wuhan Institute of Virology. Last month, the White House replaced the government’s COVID-19 website with a new portal focused on the “True Origins of COVID-19.” The site argues the virus has features not found in nature and draws ties between COVID-19 and the Wuhan lab.