Trump Halts Federal Funding for Gain-of-Function Research in China and Iran Amidst COVID-19 Origin Debate
Former President Donald Trump has signed an executive order to discontinue federal funding for specific types of biomedical research conducted in China and Iran. The order, aimed at preventing future pandemics resembling COVID-19, centers on research known as "gain-of-function," which studies how viruses evolve to become more potent or contagious.
Trump, along with some federal agencies, has long supported the theory that the COVID-19 pandemic originated from the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China. This theory, however, is vehemently denied by the Chinese government.
"It can leak out innocently, stupidly, and incompetently, and half destroy the world," Trump stated at the White House, emphasizing the potential dangers associated with gain-of-function research.
The executive order specifically targets the elimination of U.S. funding for gain-of-function research conducted at the Wuhan lab, the city where the initial outbreak of COVID-19 was reported. However, an alternative theory suggests that a person contracted the virus through contact with an infected animal.
According to a White House statement, the order, signed on May 5, is intended to prevent research that studies how pathogens like avian influenza and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome evolve to become more potent or contagious.
Determining the cause of COVID-19, which has resulted in the deaths of an estimated 7 million people worldwide and caused significant disruption to the global economy, has been a politically charged issue due to ongoing tensions between the U.S. and China.
The U.S. intelligence community has released an unclassified assessment indicating that the COVID-19 virus likely emerged and infected humans through a small exposure by November 2019, with the first cluster of cases reported in Wuhan, China. However, the agencies remain divided on whether the exposure occurred from a lab leak or from natural exposure to an infected animal.
The intelligence community also concluded that the virus was not developed as a biological weapon and that Chinese officials were unaware of the virus before the initial outbreak.
Mao Ning, a spokesperson for China’s foreign ministry, stated in January that experts from the World Health Organization found it "extremely unlikely" that the pandemic was caused by a lab leak.
"The U.S. needs to stop politicizing and weaponizing origins-tracing at once, and stop scapegoating others," Ning added.
After signing the executive order, Trump reiterated his theory regarding the origins of COVID-19, stating that he believed "from day one" that it originated from a lab leak in China. He speculated that a scientist may have "walked outside to have lunch with a girlfriend or was together with a lot of people."
"That’s how it leaked out, in my opinion, and I’ve never changed that opinion," Trump said.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Health and Human Services Secretary, who was present at the signing of the order, highlighted a leak from the Wuhan lab as a likely source of the pandemic.
"There’s no laboratory that’s immune from leaks, and this is going to prevent those kind of inadvertent leaks from happening in the future and endangering humanity," Kennedy stated. "And this executive order is precaution against us being involved in that kind of research in the future."
The executive order has ignited debate within the scientific community. Vaccine producers hold divergent views on whether gain-of-function research is essential for vaccine development, prompting the National Institutes of Health to call for a careful evaluation of its contributions to vaccine development.
Kennedy, however, expressed skepticism, stating, "In all of the history of gain-of-function research, we cannot point to a single good thing that has come of it."
The executive order reflects the ongoing controversy surrounding the origins of COVID-19 and the potential risks associated with gain-of-function research. While proponents argue that such research is crucial for understanding and combating emerging infectious diseases, critics express concerns about the potential for accidental releases and the creation of more dangerous pathogens. The debate is further complicated by geopolitical tensions between the U.S. and China, with both countries accusing each other of politicizing the issue. The executive order is sure to have implications for the future of biomedical research and international scientific collaborations.
