Fauci Argued Benefits of Gain-of-Function Research Outweighed Pandemic Risk in 2012 Paper

In a newly resurfaced paper from 2012, Dr. Anthony Fauci argued that the benefits of gain-of-function research are worth the increased risk of a potential pandemic-causing lab accident.

The Weekend Australian unearthed a paper Fauci wrote for the American Society for Microbiology in October 2012 in which he argued in support of gain-of-function research.

Such research involves making viruses more infectious and/or deadly.

Within the research community, many have expressed concern that important research progress could come to a halt just because of the fear that someone, somewhere, might attempt to replicate these experiments sloppily.

The Weekend Australian report adds that Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, did not alert senior White House officials before lifting a ban on gain-of-function research in 2017.

The U.S. government has reportedly assessed that the WIV was conducting gain-of-function research in some form, according to a March Politico excerpt of Washington Post columnist Josh Rogin's book on the subject.

Jamie Metzl, an expert on gene editing for the World Health Organization, has also said that the WIV performed gain-of-function research.
 

https://www.nationalreview.com/news/fauci-argued-benefits-of-gain-of-function-research-outweighed-pandemic-risk-in-2012-paper/