Gain-of-function research needs to end
What is gain-of-function, and why is it killing both animals and humans?
Recently there has been a lot of buzz around the new/old evidence that SARS-CoV-2 originated from a lab. The US government was allegedly conducting “gain-of-function” research. If you’ve been following the news, it’s more than likely that you’ve heard of it.
Gain-of-function research is the “serial passaging” of a microorganism/virus to make it more contagious, increase its “immunogenicity,” and overall make it more dangerous.
Why on the planet Earth would anyone want to do something like this? Good question. The point of gain-of-function research is to figure out how strains and pathogens develop, so in the future viruses can be defeated.
You’d think that the US would find a remote place for this dangerous research, right? Wrong! Instead, the US decided to conduct research in the middle of Wuhan, China, a city of more than 8 million people. I myself cannot comprehend why someone could be this stupid as to let highly dangerous research in the middle of a densely populated city in another country.
The scientists were even allowed to go home at the end of the day. What a dumb mistake! As silly as it is, this gain-of-function research has now killed nearly 7 million people as of March, 2023, the month that I am writing this.
What needs to happen is a shutdown of all gain-of-function research, or at least strict regulations and guidelines for how it should be conducted.
Rule #1: Don’t so it in the middle of a huge city with millions of people.
Rule #2: Make then put on a hazmat suit. Or two.
Rule #3: Don’t let people come in and out without quarantining them.
How’s that for a start?
This is why we need regulations when it comes to this sort of dangerous research. And the thing is, gain-of-function is illegal in the US. So it was moved to China, where gain-of-function is not illegal. Even worse, it was funded by the Pentagon. This research is still going on as we speak! It needs to either end, or be heavily restricted and regulated.
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References
https://theintercept.com/2022/05/19/covid-lab-leak-evidence-jeffrey-sachs/
https://www.news-medical.net/health/What-is-Gain-of-Function-Research.aspx
https://www.voanews.com/amp/covid-19-pandemic_chinese-lab-checkered-safety-record-draws-scrutiny-over-covid-19/6187947.html