Scientists argue their work is safe and not defined as “gain-of-function” research.
QUICK FACTS:
- Researchers in the United Kingdom have worked to mix a mutant version of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, creating hybrid strains.
- The experiments were carried out by Imperial College London earlier this year where they created blends of the original Wuhan lab strain of COVID-19 and mixed it with Omicron or Delta variants.
- The research was carried out by 20 scientists, including some working as government advisors, and included infecting mice with the hybrid virus, resulting an 80% fatality rate.
- Critics have called the experiments “insanity” saying the trials could potentially unleash a new viral threat.
- Faced with pushback, researchers have insisted that this work is not in the “gain-of-function” field, which has become controversial in recent years.
SIMILAR RESEARCH IN THE US:
- Scientists at Boston University released a study reporting that they created their own version of SARS-CoV-2 by using strains from current viruses in the COVID family and mixing and matching.
- The study was said to boost the virulence and transmissibility of the virus, but also caused questions about the nature of their work.
- The COVID-19 dispute is particularly complicated because it is still unproven how the virus entered humans from animals or whether it was intentionally generated at the Wuhan Virology Institute by researchers looking at earlier coronaviruses.
BACKGROUND:
- United States lawmakers have been questioning gain-of-function research, particularly Republicans who sent a letter to Boston University President Robert Brown requesting more information about the research being conducted there on COVID-19 strains.
- Of particular concern was the extremely high mortality rate in test rodents, particularly considering that no mice were killed by the omicron variant used for its transmissibility.
