- Identify & end federal funding
- Target biological threats to Health, Safety and National Security
- Research experimenting Viruses, pathogens-trigger pandemic
- COVID – Fear Scientist create and release pandemic virus
- Exec. Order “Fact Sheet: President Donald J. Trump Achieves Improved Safety and Security of Biological Research“ read actual order below
Trump’s Executive Order Halts Funding for Controversial Gain-of-Function Research
President Trump issued an executive order on Monday, restricting federal funding for gain-of-function research, a controversial field of study that experiments with viruses and pathogens capable of sparking pandemics. The move, which some link to lingering questions about COVID-19’s origins, aims to curb risky research abroad and tighten oversight at home. “It’s crazy to think that this entire nightmare was probably the result of some scientists messing with mother nature in a laboratory with technology,” said Dr. Marty Makary, Food and Drug Administration commissioner. Here’s what the order does, why it’s divisive, and what’s at stake.
The Order: Cracking Down on Risky Research
The executive order targets gain-of-function research, also known as “dual-use” research, which involves manipulating viruses or pathogens to study how they might become more transmissible or deadlier. It includes:
- Blocking U.S. funding for such research in “countries of concern” like China and Iran, as well as nations “deemed to have insufficient research oversight.”
- Prohibiting U.S. dollars from supporting foreign research “likely to cause another pandemic.”
- Empowering American research agencies to identify and end funding for other biological research that could threaten public health, safety, or national security, per a White House fact sheet.
The order aims to “increase the safety and security of biological research without impeding U.S. innovation,” the White House stated. White House secretary Will Scharf emphasized its scope at a press conference: “Many people believe that gain-of-function research was one of the key causes of the COVID pandemic that struck us in the last decade. What this executive order does first of all, it provides powerful new tools to enforce the ban on federal funding for gain-of-function research abroad. It also strengthens other oversight mechanisms related to that issue and creates an overarching strategy to ensure that biomedical research in general is being conducted safely.”
Why Now? The COVID-19 Shadow
Gain-of-function research has long been controversial due to fears that lab-created pathogens could escape and trigger a pandemic. These concerns grew during the COVID-19 pandemic, with one theory suggesting the SARS-CoV-2 virus leaked from a Chinese government laboratory in Wuhan, China. Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, director of the National Institutes of Health, underscored the risks at the press conference: “The conduct of this research does not protect us against pandemics, as some people might say, it doesn’t protect us against other nations. There’s always a danger that in doing this research, it might leak out, just by accident even, and cause a pandemic.”
Dr. Marty Makary, FDA commissioner, echoed this, stating, “It’s crazy to think that this entire nightmare was probably the result of some scientists messing with mother nature in a laboratory with technology.” Supporters like Richard Ebright, a Rutgers University microbiologist who backs the “lab-leak” theory, argue for restrictions: “If one of these pathogens is released accidentally or if they are released deliberately, they can cause pandemics.”
The Other Side: Scientists Push Back
Many scientists dispute the lab-leak theory, arguing that evidence points to a natural origin, with the virus likely jumping from a wild animal to humans in China. They also warn that a broad funding ban could stifle safe, necessary research critical for preventing or responding to future pandemics. Kristin Matthews, a fellow at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, cautioned, “If we ban it, the next time another COVID virus comes through we won’t have the data to quickly find new treatments, screening and even preventative measures.”
The scientific community agrees that better oversight is needed due to the risks but fears a moratorium might be too sweeping, potentially hampering innovation and preparedness.
Historical Context
The debate isn’t new. Over the years, there have been many efforts to tightly monitor and control gain-of-function research due to its dangers. The COVID-19 pandemic, however, politically polarized the issue, with some tying it to national security and others defending its scientific value. Trump’s order reflects a push to prioritize safety amid lingering public distrust from the pandemic.
What’s Next?
The executive order marks a historic shift, per Trump officials, aiming to safeguard against lab leaks while navigating a delicate balance. Will it protect public health or hinder vital research? As agencies implement the funding restrictions, the scientific community braces for impact, and the COVID-19 origin debate rages on.
The executive order reads as follows:
“Fact Sheet: President Donald J. Trump Achieves Improved Safety and Security of Biological Research
The White House | May 5, 2025
PROTECTING AMERICANS FROM DANGEROUS GAIN OF FUNCTION RESEARCH: Today, President Donald J. Trump signed an Executive Order to improve the safety and security of biological research in the United States and around the world. This Executive Order:
- Ends any present and all future Federal funding of dangerous gain-of-function research in countries of concern like China and Iran and in foreign nations deemed to have insufficient research oversight.
- Empowers American research agencies to identify and end Federal funding of other biological research that could pose a threat to American public health, public safety, or national security.
- Prohibits Federal funding from contributing to foreign research likely to cause another pandemic. These measures will drastically reduce the potential for lab-related incidents involving gain-of-function research, like that conducted on bat coronaviruses in China by the EcoHealth Alliance and Wuhan Institute of Virology.
- Protects Americans from lab accidents and other biosecurity incidents, such as those that likely caused COVID-19 and the 1977 Russian flu.
ESTABLISHING SAFE AND SECURE OVERSIGHT OF DANGEROUS GAIN OF FUNCTION RESEARCH IN THE UNITED STATES: This Executive Order will increase the safety and security of biological research for Americans without impeding U.S. innovation.
- For decades, policies overseeing gain-of-function research on pathogens, toxins, and potential pathogens have lacked adequate enforcement, transparency, and top-down oversight. Researchers have not acknowledged the legitimate potential for societal harms that this kind of research poses.
- The Biden Administration allowed dangerous gain-of-function research with insufficient levels of oversight and actively approved Federal life-science research funding in China and other countries.
- The 2024 United States Government Policy for Oversight of Dual Use Research of Concern and Pathogens with Enhanced Pandemic Potential (“DURC/PEPP”) and the 2024 Framework for Nucleic Acid Synthesis Screening are the latest examples of inadequate policies that rely on self-reporting and fail to protect Americans from dangerous research practices.
- This Order pauses research using infectious pathogens and toxins in the United States that may pose a danger to American citizens until a safer, more enforceable, and transparent policy governing such research can be developed and implemented. It directs the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and the National Security Advisor (NSA) to work with funding agencies to develop such a policy within 120 days.
- Unlike previous policies, this Order contains enforcement and reporting mechanisms that will strengthen oversight and discourage subjective interpretation of policies that researchers have used in the past to evade biosafety and biosecurity oversight.
SAFEGUARDING THE FUTURE AND PROMOTING AMERICAN BIOTECHNOLOGY DOMINANCE: President Trump is driving us into the Golden Age of American Innovation that will lead us to a safer, healthier, and more prosperous America.
- This Order protects Americans from dangerous gain-of-function research that manipulates viruses and other biological agents and toxins, but it does not impede productive biological research that will ensure the United States maintains readiness against biological threats and continues to drive global leadership in biotechnology, biosecurity, and health research.
- President Trump has long theorized that COVID-19 originated from a lab leak at the Wuhan Institute of Virology and has consistently pushed for transparency in investigating its origins.”
Sources
- https://www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/2025/05/fact-sheet-president-donald-j-trump-achieves-improved-safety-and-security-of-biological-research/
- Quoted Statements: Quotes from Makary (“It’s crazy to think…”),
- Scharf (“Many people believe…”),
- Bhattacharya (“The conduct of this research…”),
- Ebright (“If one of these pathogens…”),
- Matthews (“If we ban it…”)
- President Donald Trump
- https://www.navy.mil/Press-Office/Press-Releases/
Author, Ryan Bridglal, 05-08-2025
#featured #bridgenewzcom #bridgenewz #breakingnews #breaking #news #executiveorder #order #executive #law #biological #medical #weapons #coivd #pandemic #trump #donaldtrump #funding #finance #federal #research #science #china #health #safety #national #security