Thread by @Ayjchan

I’m starting a 24h poll to check the public understanding of gain-of-function research.

What will follow is a series of experiment scenarios. Participants are invited to pick: Yes, No, I don’t know.

Please don’t Google to find answers. Answer based on your understanding.

First one should be easy.

Is this gain-of-function?

Serially (consecutively, repeatedly) passaging a virus through cells or animals (infecting these with the virus) to intentionally derive a more infectious or lethal virus.

Second one:

Is this gain-of-function?

Serially passaging a novel virus from nature in cells to find a version that can be grown and studied in the laboratory.

Is this gain-of-function?

Engineering cells that help scientists to grow more viruses in the lab for study.

Is this gain-of-function?

Engineering animals that, when infected with a given virus, are a good model to study the disease caused by the virus in humans.

Is this gain-of-function?

Experiments that select viruses for vaccine-, antibody-, or drug-resistance in order to predict mutations of concern.

Is this gain-of-function?

The evolution experiment in the previous tweet but the virus protein has been isolated for the experiment so no live virus is used.

Is this gain-of-function?

Engineering a new feature or mutation into a virus that is very likely (historical or precedent data has shown) to result in increased infectivity or severity of disease.

Is this gain-of-function?

The same experiment as in the previous tweet but the virus protein of interest has been isolated so no live pathogen is used.

Is this gain-of-function?

Switching genes between known human pathogens.

Is this gain-of-function?

Switching genes between animal pathogens that are suspected to be potentially somewhat capable of infecting humans.

Is this gain-of-function?

Taking parts from a novel virus from nature and putting it in a lab virus for study. Neither virus has been demonstrated to cause human disease.

Is this gain-of-function?

An experiment, regardless of intent, where multiple potentially pathogenic viruses have the opportunity to co-infect cells or animals.

Is this gain-of-function?

Finding a natural virus that can already spread well and cause disease in humans. Studying this in the lab without enhancing it.

Is this gain-of-function?

The scenario in the previous tweet, but with the intent to use it on people.

Last one:

Is this gain-of-function?

Studying parts of human pathogens and adapting them for other uses.

For example, taking reverse transcriptase from viruses and using it in diagnostics.

Please help me to share this poll with other people in your circles so that it’s not just people who follow me and #OriginsOfCovid

I want to get a sense of the breadth of different perspectives on what is gain-of-function research.

Thank you!

https://twitter.com/ayjchan/status/1403329430899003396

Just surpassed 1,000 votes in the first question of the poll.

The range of answers is incredible!

I'll comment on the results tomorrow morning, but would be great to keep sharing this poll with more people - scientists and non-scientists - till then!

Getting feedback that it might be good to point participants to some gain-of-function documentation. To keep it brief, this older thread might be useful. Links to documents included.

TLDR the range of experiments that can be reasonably considered *by some* to be GOFRoC is vast.

https://twitter.com/ayjchan/status/1370882618217091078

Also, I know that the niche experts participating in this twitter poll are suffering heartburn from the lack of an “it depends” option.

I thought about this feedback but it would lead to some people just clicking “it depends” for everything as an easy way out of the survey.

There is no cheat sheet for this survey and no grading on a curve.

If it has generated food for thought, discussion across the aisle, and maybe even inspired some science writers or journalists to do a deep dive on this topic of gain-of-function / potential pandemic pathogens...

Tweet inception!

https://twitter.com/ayjchan/status/1403704344009191431