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I have seen a lot of claims made about "gain of function" research in regards to corona viruses, one of them being that it is or was "illegal". I wondered whether or not this claim was true at the time that some entities (NIH, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, other government organizations, etc.) were funding and/or conducting gain of function research themselves.

It seems the NIH did place a moratorium on funding gain of function research starting in October 2014 and rescinded it in December of 2017. (Source)

I found Senate Bill S.3012 that was introduced by Sen. Marshall in October 2021, but a) it is not law, just a bill, and b) cannot be used to ex post facto criminalize behavior that had already been committed (US Constitution, Article 1, Section 9, Clause 3).

Questions

  • Was funding "gain of function" research by government institutions ever illegal? If so, starting when?
  • Was conducting "gain of function" research by government institutions ever illegal? If so, starting when?

I have not seen this question asked here before, a quick search I was able to find the following question but it doesn't delve into whether either conducting this research or funding it was or is now illegal.

What is the status of Rand Paul's criminal referral to the DOJ relating to allegations levied against Dr. Anthony Fauci?

Jeff Lambert
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1 Answers1

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Senate Amendment 2003 was an amendment to an amendment to a bill which did not pass: it would have permanently ban all funding of gain-of-function research in China. Senate Bill S.3012 likewise did not become law. Furthermore, economically bans gain-of-function, and does not criminalize anything. It says "Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no research grants supported by Federal funds may be awarded to institutions of higher education, or other research institutes, that are conducting gain-of-function research", meaning a total shut-off of federal research money to an institute that engages in such research. But it didn't happen, so it is still legal.

user6726
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