Fauci, in Clash With Sen. Paul, Says NIH Didn't Fund Risky Research at Wuhan Virology Lab

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said his agency did not provide funds into research on risky "Gain of function" research into coronaviruses at the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

"For years, Dr. Ralph Baric, a virologist in the U.S., has been collaborating with Dr. Shi Zhengli from the Wuhan Virology Institute, sharing his discoveries about how to create super viruses. This gain-of-function research has been funded by the NIH Dr. Fauci, do you still support funding of the NIH lab in Wuhan?" Paul said in a contentious exchange Tuesday.

"The NIH has not ever and does not now fund gain-of-function research in the Wuhan Institute of Virology."

Fauci noted that the NIH did provide funding to a project at the Wuhan lab, but it was not for "Gain of function" research designed to create super viruses.

Republicans on the Energy and Commerce Committee wrote to NIH Director Francis Collins in March and later wrote to EcoHealth Alliance's Peter Daszak, who is one of the most prominent Western defenders of the Wuhan laboratory, and demanded records about their research and collaborations with the lab.

"EcoHealth Alliance has long partnered with the Wuhan Institute of Virology in researching bat coronaviruses and is the only U.S. partner of the WIV's eight international cohorts," the Energy Committee Republicans wrote in a news release in April.

Daszak's nonprofit worked with the Wuhan lab since at least 2003, according to the GOP letter, and a significant portion of that research was focused on various coronaviruses.
 

https://www.theepochtimes.com/fauci-in-clash-with-sen-paul-says-nih-didnt-fund-risky-research-at-wuhan-virology-lab_3811610.html