Trump Bans Biomedical Research in Other Countries

The U.S. government has funded gain-of-function research in China.

President Donald Trump on May 5 banned federal funding for gain-of-function research in other countries, including China, just weeks after his administration said that COVID-19 likely came from a Chinese laboratory that received U.S. funding.

โ€œItโ€™s a big deal,โ€ Trump said in the Oval Office while signing the executive order.

โ€œCould have been that we wouldnโ€™t have had the problem we had if we had this done earlier.โ€

The presidentโ€™s order forbids federal funds from supporting risky research, which is aimed at increasing pathogenicity or another function of a virus, in other countries unless there is proper oversight.

โ€œMany people believe that gain-of-function research was one of the key causes of the COVID pandemic,โ€ White House staffer Will Scharf said while handing the document to the president to sign.

According to the order, the new rules will protect Americans from potentially dangerous research that includes the manipulation of viruses, toxins, and other biological materials.

The regulations are constructed so as not to interfere with the nationโ€™s national security and readiness to respond to threats, White House officials said in a statement.

Changes are meant to improve enforcement, oversight, and transparency.

โ€œWhat this executive order does, first of all, it provides powerful new tools to enforce the ban on federal funding of gain-of-function research abroad,โ€ Scharf said.

โ€œIt also strengthens other oversight mechanisms … and creates an overarching strategy to ensure that biomedical research, in general, is being conducted safely and ultimately protects human health more.โ€

The directive empowers agencies to identify and rescind federal funding of any biological research that could endanger public health, safety, or security.

โ€œThese 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,โ€ the White House said in a fact sheet.

The National Institutes of Health and the U.S. Agency for International Development provided more than $1 million in funds to the Wuhan Institute of Virology, via the EcoHealth Alliance group, for experimenting on bat coronaviruses.

The Chinese city that hosts the lab is the same city in which the first COVID-19 cases were identified.

โ€œBy nearly all measures of science, if there was evidence of a natural origin, it would have already surfaced. But it hasnโ€™t,โ€ the White House says on its website, which was updated in April.

Byย Zachary Stieberย andย Travis Gillmore

Read Full Article on TheEpochTimes.com

The Epoch Times
The Epoch Timeshttps://www.theepochtimes.com/
Tired of biased news? The Epoch Times is truthful, factual news that other media outlets don't report. No spin. No agenda. Just honest journalism like it used to be.

Columns

The Terrifying Way Scammers Clone Your Voice to Defraud Your Family

That evolution of phishing has entered a new stage with voice-phishing or vishing attacks that involve voice cloning.

Is the Catholic Conclave Already Rigged?

Did Pope Francis already rig the electors for the next conclave so one of his followers will be installed?

Unintended Consequences of Presidential National Emergencies

Declaring national emergencies allows a president to operate free of congressional restraints but carries unintended consequences that can cause national harm.

Chinaโ€™s โ€˜Weaponized Negotiationโ€™ Could Backfire, Expert Says

If Beijingโ€™s export controls on rare earth minerals remains, they could force Western decoupling, strain domestic industries, and erode their near-monopoly.

Joe Biden & The Biggest Cover-up In American History

Despite best efforts of his handlers to prevent disclosure of his incompetency to voters, Bidenโ€™s horrific debate performance with Trump made it impossible.

News

Harvard No Longer Eligible for New Grants From Federal Government: White House

The Trump administration will no longer issue government grants to Harvard University, a White House official said on May 5.

Army Suspends Helicopter Flights Into, Around Pentagon Following Incident

Army suspended helicopter flights into and around Pentagon after military helicopter flew close to DCA resulting in aborting landings of two commercial flights.

Undersea Mining: Wave of the Future or Spoiler of Earthโ€™s Last Untouched Frontier?

Trump EO on โ€œunleashing Americaโ€™s offshore critical minerals,โ€ accelerates approval process for exploration and extraction of minerals by deep-sea mining.

Trump Pledges to Donate Entire Salary Back to Government, Again

President Trump on May 4 said that he would again be donating his entire presidential salary back to the federal government, as he did in his first term.

Trump Considering Stephen Miller as National Security Adviser

President Trump planned to appoint someone to be new national security adviser within 6 months, and Stephen Miller could be selected for the role.

Harvardโ€™s President Says Revoking of Tax-Exempt Status โ€˜Highly Illegalโ€™

In an interview with The WSJ Harvard President Alan Garber said he believes it would be โ€œhighly illegalโ€ for the admin to remove the tax exempt status

US Appeals Court Halts Order Allowing Voice of America Employees Back to Work

U.S. appeals court blocked a lower court ruling that ordered the Trump admin to return 1,000 Voice of America staffers back to work.

RFK Jr. Directs Health Officials to Find Treatments for Measles

HHS is going to work to find treatments for measles, which has caused multiple outbreaks in the United States this year, a spokesperson says.
spot_img

Related Articles