TOO LITTLE, TOO LATE: TRUMP RESTRICTS HANDING MONEY TO OUR ENEMIES TO CREATE BIO WEAPONS
Common sense informs us not to provide money to our sworn adversaries to conduct biological weapon research that is controversial in the United States.
So, how did we wind up paying Communist China to perform potentially dangerous Gain-of-Function research in a dodgy Wuhan laboratory closely associated with the People’s Liberation Army?
- Who initiated the research?
- Who authorized the funding of the research?
- Who monitored the safety precautions at the foreign laboratory in Wuhan, China?
- Who monitored the results of the research?
- And who is culpable for the devastating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, which claimed over 15 million lives globally, brought misery to hundreds of millions more, and nearly destroyed the U.S. economy?
What to make of Trump’s latest Executive Order, “Improving the Safety and Security of Biological Research?”
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Section 1. Purpose. Dangerous gain-of-function research on biological agents and pathogens has the potential to significantly endanger the lives of American citizens. If left unrestricted, its effects can include widespread mortality, an impaired public health system, disrupted American livelihoods, and diminished economic and national security. The Biden Administration allowed dangerous gain-of-function research within the United States with insufficient levels of oversight. It also actively approved, through the National Institutes of Health, Federal life-science research funding in China and other countries where there is limited United States oversight or reasonable expectation of biosafety enforcement. This recklessness, if unaddressed, may lead to the proliferation of research on pathogens (and potential pathogens) in settings without adequate safeguards, even after COVID-19 revealed the risk of such practices. Sec. 2. Policy. It is the policy of the United States to ensure that United States federally funded research benefits American citizens without jeopardizing our Nation’s security, strength, or prosperity. My Administration will balance the prevention of catastrophic consequences with maintaining readiness against biological threats and driving global leadership in biotechnology, biological countermeasures, biosecurity, and health research. Sec. 3. Stop Dangerous Gain-of-Function Research. (a) The Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), in coordination with the Director of the Office of Management and Budget and the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs (APNSA), and in consultation with the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the heads of other relevant executive departments and agencies (agencies) identified by the Director of OSTP, shall establish guidance for the heads of relevant agencies, to the extent consistent with the terms and conditions of the funding, to immediately: (I) end Federal funding of dangerous gain-of-function research conducted by foreign entities in countries of concern (e.g., China) pursuant to 42 U.S.C. 6627(c), or in other countries where there is not adequate oversight to ensure that the countries are compliant with United States oversight standards and policies; and (ii) end Federal funding of other life-science research that is occurring in countries of concern or foreign countries where there is not adequate oversight to ensure that the countries are compliant with United States oversight standards and policies and that could reasonably pose a threat to public health, public safety, and economic or national security, as determined by the heads of relevant agencies. (b) The Director of OSTP, in coordination with the Director of the Office of Management and Budget and the APNSA, and in consultation with the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the heads of other relevant agencies, shall establish guidance for the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the heads of other relevant agencies with respect to suspension of federally funded dangerous gain-of-function research, pursuant to the terms and conditions of the relevant research funding, at least until the completion of the policy called for in section 4(a) of this order. Heads of agencies shall report any exception to a suspension to the Director of OSTP for review in consultation with the APNSA and the heads of relevant agencies. <Source> |
This does not stop the dangerous Gain-of-Function Research; it only limits it to creating guidance and restricting funds from “countries of concern or foreign countries.”
What Is Gain-of-Function Research?
Gain-of-function (GoF) research involves manipulating pathogens to enhance their transmissibility, virulence, or host range. Proponents argue that it can help scientists better prepare for pandemics by predicting how viruses might evolve. Critics, however, warn that such work risks creating the very outbreaks it seeks to prevent, especially in labs with insufficient safety protocols.
COVID-19 and the Rise of Concern
The devastating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, which claimed over 15 million lives globally, has intensified scrutiny of this research. Many advocates for stricter regulation point to the origin of SARS-CoV-2 at the Wuhan Institute of Virology — a leading center for GoF studies on bat coronaviruses — as a clear warning sign.
New Restrictions Under the Executive Order
The executive order blocks U.S. government funding of gain-of-function experiments conducted in “countries of concern” like China and Iran. It also extends to any foreign research environments deemed by bureaucrats to have inadequate safety and ethical oversight.
Suppression of Dissent During the Pandemic
Notably, the order also arrives amid growing frustration over how dissenting voices were treated during the pandemic. Independent thinkers, many with superb educations, credentials, and expertise in the field, who questioned official narratives or criticized U.S. pandemic policy were labeled as sources of “misinformation,” demonetized by tech giants like Google, and even temporarily banned from platforms like Twitter (now X). These measures, critics argue, suppressed valuable public debate and obscured the risks posed by poorly managed virologic research.
Will new dissenters be similarly treated?
Bottom line…
This new executive order does nothing to ensure that scientific advancement in biological research does not come at the expense of public safety.
Ask yourself, how many foreign students are enrolled in prestigious universities with access to sophisticated bio labs and conducting research on behalf of the United States government?
We are so screwed.
-- Steve
“Nullius in verba”-- take nobody's word for it!
"Acta non verba" -- actions not words
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