Three key House committee leaders want the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to sort out the multiple definitions of “gain-of-function” biomedical research used by federal agencies that fund such activities to determine if any real-world benefits have been achieved by them.
“As ‘gain-of-function’ research could entail biosafety, biosecurity, and public health risks, the risks and benefits of this research must be evaluated to determine which types of studies should go forward and under what conditions,” House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) said in an Aug. 1 letter to Comptroller General Gene Dodaro, who manages the GAO. “Further, until we know the tangible outcomes of ‘gain-of-function’ research, we cannot know if the benefits outweigh the risks.”
