The move to cut off support for this kind of work has been set in motion after Tulsi Gabbard, the US Director of National Intelligence, put some declassified records on the table. They show that we have been funding over 120 biolabs in more than 30 nations, Ukraine among them. Now, the way we do business with our global partners is being put under a microscope.
Gabbard pointed to an ODNI statement that says a good number of these foreign sites have been dealing with some of the most virulent, hard-to-control pathogens you can find, sometimes with not enough eyes on them. What officials want to do now is get a clear picture of where these labs are, what they’re holding onto and how they’re being policed.
What changed and why it matters
You could call the policy shift here a sledgehammer: President Donald Trump has put an end to federal funding for Gain-of-Function on a worldwide scale. It’s part of a wider look at our overseas programmes, and there is a lot more emphasis on who is answerable for what.
In a video, Gabbard was forthright about it. She put out some intelligence we haven’t had a chance to see before and made her case for the Executive Order that will stop us from bankrolling this risky research. In her view, it’s about curbing the public health dangers of studies that don’t have the right level of supervision.
The administration has put forward a few things it wants to see happen in the near term:
– Put a stop to federal funding for Gain-of-Function, no matter where it is
– Have the Intelligence Community put mapping of overseas facilities first
– Go over any holes in the oversight of foreign pathogen work
Declassified records point to overseas networks
If you go by what Gabbard has to say about the ODNI files, the U.S. has in the past put up the cash for 120-plus biological labs in 30-some countries. And the paperwork shows they were working with the kind of bugs that cause major outbreaks, with oversight that she would describe as wanting.
Then there is the situation in Ukraine. We are looking at declassifications of 40 or more labs in the country that have been in the business of handling old Soviet-era bioweapons. Some of them have done their homework on what we call Especially Dangerous Pathogens – think anthrax, Ebola, MERS, SARS, the plague.
ODNI types say they are already turning up information on clinical trials in some of these places. For Gabbard, that is a source of ‘significant ethical, financial, and security concerns.’
A case study: Kherson Diagnostic Laboratory
Take the Kherson Diagnostic Laboratory for instance. The report makes it out to be a prime example of where the rules have been bent. It was handed $1,728,822 in funds even though its permit to work with certain pathogens was still in limbo. That is exactly the kind of thing the review is meant to root out.
Oversight and accountability push
‘ODNI will continue to work closely with partners across the government to identify where these labs are, what pathogens they contain, to end dangerous Gain-of-Function research that threatens the health and well-being of the American people and people around the world,’ Gabbard said. The plan is to ratchet up cooperation to find these biolabs and put an end to the more hazardous ones.
She didn’t mince words with former officials, either. ‘Despite the obvious potential for catastrophic global impact… politicians, so-called health professionals like Dr Fauci, and entities within the Biden administration’s national security team lied to the American people about the existence of US-funded and supported biolabs, and threatened those who attempted to expose the truth,’ she said.
What comes next
Gabbard has put out a formal order for the Intelligence Community to get to work on the numbers for these overseas outposts. We want an inventory we can put our hand on – of the labs, the pathogens and the protections they have in place.
The intelligence community is recommitting to making sure these risks are contained. As we move forward with this, the ODNI intends to keep a closer watch on what is happening abroad and let you know how they are holding up when it comes to compliance and ethics.
