A Pause in Funding Certain Types of Gain-of-Function Research

The White House announced today that U.S. government agencies will institute a pause in the funding of new “gain-of-function” research on influenza, SARS, and MERS viruses that could increase the pathogenicity or transmissibility to mammals (also see NIH Guide Notice NOT-OD-15-011). During this funding pause, the government will carry out a deliberative process to assess the risks and benefits of such studies and will develop a new Federal policy regarding the funding of this research. For those of you who may not be familiar with this topic, gain-of-function research refers to any modification of a biological agent — like viruses or bacteria — that gives it new or enhanced activity, such as the ability to infect a host. While research on factors that could increase transmission or infection can be important for informing prevention strategies, some information from these studies might also be misused for harmful purposes. Over the past several years, there has been much debate in the scientific community over the risks and benefits of gain-of-function research. The most notable source of discussion in recent years involved two studies on H5N1 — commonly known as “bird flu” — that sought to identify genetic factors that could enhance its ability to infect mammals. Many questioned whether the research findings from these two studies should be made public, and whether this type of research should even be conducted in the first place. After a revi...
Source: NIH Extramural Nexus - Category: Research Authors: Tags: Rock Talk biosecurity gain-of-function Grants policy Source Type: funding