Dr. Anthony Fauci appeared to defend gain-of-function research as “important” despite its pandemic “risk” in a 2012 paper exposed by The Australian. The National Pulse can also reveal similar comments from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director during a 2012 conference focused on the controversial form of research.
The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Director appears to defend gain-of-function research, which increases the virulence and lethality of infectious diseases, as “integral.” He also describes his agency as “the major funders of most but not all of these people” who carry out the form of research.
SLIDE FROM FAUCI’S PRESENTATION.
Fauci acknowledges the potential drawbacks of gain-of-function research, noting there was “concern” that the “products or information generated by these experiments might be used by others in a way that could harm society either carelessly, in an unregulated fashion, by inexperienced people, or even by deliberate misuse.”
