Thread by @R_H_Ebright

"Controls on 'gain of function' experiments with supercharged pathogens have been undercut despite concerns about lab leaks"

washingtonpost.com/nation/interac…

"In the United States, NIH Director Francis S. Collins and Anthony S. Fauci, director of the agency’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, have led the federal funding and oversight of gain-of-function research."

"Collins and Fauci in recent years have helped shape policy changes, directly and through..aides, that undercut the [review] committee’s authority, according to..documents, congressional testimony and interviews with dozens of present and former officials and science experts"

"Collins and Fauci and their senior aides[, lying through their teeth,] disputed that the policy changes had weakened oversight of the research."

"Fauci said[, lying brazenly]..the..experiments..are 'done with the highest degree of oversight'"

"'To the extent that we can be transparent, that the system would allow us to be transparent, we go overboard to be transparent,' Fauci said[, lying even more brazenly]."

"The Post identified at least 18 projects that won funding from 2012 to 2020 that appeared to include gain-of-function..Funding from NIH for the 18 projects totaled about $48.8 million and unfolded at 13 institutions."

"From 2017 to 2020, no more than “three or four” [of the 18] projects were forwarded to the review committee, said Robert Kadlec, who oversaw the panel."

"'They were grading their own homework,' Kadlec said [referring to Collins and Fauci]."

"Kadlec..said..high-risk research has not been adequately vetted. 'Frankly, we didn’t have the scientific wherewithal'..adding that the review committee’s capabilities were not 'robust enough to make sure that bad things don’t happen.'"

"At an NIH meeting last year, Christian Hassell,..senior aide..at HHS, complained about how..research is [not] vetted. 'We’ve only completed two reviews,' Hassell told members of..Advisory Board for Biosecurity on Jan..2020, adding..a third project had been received..for review."

"'The risks are absolutely real. They’re not intellectual constructs or hypotheticals,' said David A. Relman..Eventually, he said, 'something that you make or information that you release will result in an accident of some kind.'"

"'Everyone on the planet now knows what a pandemic is, what that means for their families, their communities, their incomes,' said Richard H. Ebright..at Rutgers University who has studied biosecurity risks. 'This kind of research can give rise to a pandemic.'"

Kristian Andersen reportedly has written to WaPo demanding that WaPo retract the cited article because it dares report misdeeds of his patron (and puppeteer), Anthony Fauci.

I therefore am re-pinning my post to the article.