Ban on hazardous virus experiments could be lifted

Some of the riskiest biological experiments—which have been effectively banned for the last 18 months—could be allowed again if a group of experts agrees on rules governing the work.

Scientists, public health officials, and government representatives met March 10-11 in Washington, D.C., in a meeting convened by the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, to discuss measures for overseeing so-called “gain-of-function” studies, under which scientists create highly pathogenic strains of viruses such as bird flu, SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome), or MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome) so that they can learn more about them. Concern that the accidental release of these super-strong viruses could unleash a pandemic led to a freeze on all public funding for the work in October 2014. The group that met in Washington will make recommendations to the government on how best to monitor these experiments.

Marc Lipsitch, professor of epidemiology at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and director of the Center for Communicable Disease Dynamics, has called for stronger restrictions on gain-of-function studies, including prohibiting public funds for certain studies on very dangerous organisms and limiting the studies to a small number of labs with top safety and security records.

Read a Guardian article about the gain-of-function experiments debate: ‘Ban’ on most hazardous virus experiments could be lifted after meeting this week

Learn more

Should scientists experiment with highly contagious pathogens? (Harvard Chan School news)

When lab research threatens humanity (Harvard Public Health magazine)