778 - The White House’s New Rules Around Gain-of-function Research

Public Health On Call

About this episode:

Gain-of-function research involves altering a virus to make it more transmissible or deadly in order to develop vaccines, therapies, and perform other research. But the practice has long raised concerns about safety. In May, the White House released new policies around gain-of-function research hoping to shore up both safety measures and trust in this field of research. In this episode: a breakdown of the new policies and their general reception among scientists and the public.

Guests:

Gigi Gronvall is a senior scholar at the Center for Health Security and an associate professor in Environmental Health and Engineering at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Host:

Lindsay Smith Rogers, MA, is the producer of the Public Health On Call podcast, an editor for Expert Insights, and the director of content strategy for the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Show links and related content:

• United States Government Policy for Oversight of Dual Use Research of Concern and Pathogens with Enhanced Pandemic Potential—The White House

• White House overhauls rules for risky pathogen studies—Science

• Lab practices go under the microscope—Politico

• Gain-of-Function Research: Balancing Science and Security—Hopkins Bloomberg Public Health Magazine

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