GAIN-OF-FUNCTION RESEARCHU.S. House Approves Federal Funding Ban on GoF Research

The House of Representatives approved HR 5894, which includes a measure banning federal funding for studies that include gain-of-function research. Though the bill in question still requires Senate approval to have a chance to take effect, this move will likely be worrying to many in the scientific community.

Pandora Report notes that

Science Insider offers brief background on the bill, explaining “Sponsored by Representatives Thomas Massie (R–KY) and Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R–IA), the ban was part of a slate of amendments to the 2024 House spending bill for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the parent agency of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), that came before the full chamber yesterday. It passed on a voice vote, meaning individual members did not have to register their support or opposition…”

“The GOF amendment would revise language passed into law last year that banned HHS from funding such work in China and other “adversary” countries such as Cuba. That qualifier is now gone, meaning work by HHS-funded researchers in the United States could also be banned. The amendment now reads: “None of the funds made available by this Act may be used, either directly or indirectly, to conduct or support any gain-of-function research involving a potential pandemic pathogen.”’