Fauci defends gain-of-function research: 'It needs to be regulated'

Misty Severi

March 09, 08:08 PM March 09, 08:08 PM

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, defended gain-of-function research on Thursday, but he warned that the practice should be regulated.

Some scientists believe China was conducting gain-of-function research when the COVID-19 pandemic began and that a lab leak from Wuhan resulted in the pandemic.

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WHD News's Neil Cavuto asked Fauci about his views on gain-of-function research.

Fauci has rejected the notion that the pandemic sprang from a lab leak and instead favored a theory that it came from an animal-to-human transmission.

"If you're looking at something where you deliberately make a pathogen more transmissible or more pathogenic — namely, causing more severe disease — there's very few reasons to do that," Fauci said.

"But if you look at the whole array of virologists and scientists that do research that's absolutely critical for the health of the country, some of that involves manipulating organisms that you can call 'gain-of-function.' When it is [gain of function], it needs to be regulated," he added.

Fauci continued, "Did you get the flu shot this year, Neil? If you did, and you got it from an influenza vaccine, that was gain of function that made that influenza vaccine. So that's what people don't understand."

Fauci added that the scientific community believes there is a need to manipulate organisms in controlled settings.

"I think the entire scientific community of virology and infectious disease would argue strongly that if you shut down all of that research, a lot of things that are important for the health of the country would not be able to be done," Fauci said.

Former Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Robert Redfield, a virologist, rejected Fauci's assertion that some gain-of-function research was necessary. During a hearing in front of the House COVID-19 origins select committee, Redfield claimed gain-of-function research was too risky and said he is not aware of it ever causing a "life-saving vaccine."

"On the contrary, I think it probably caused the greatest pandemic our world has seen," Redfield said.

Redfield also alleged that he was purposely kept out of COVID-19 talks because he had a different point of view on the origins of COVID-19 than the narrative Fauci espoused. Fauci, however, denied the allegation Thursday.

"I really feel badly about that because I've known Bob a long time," Fauci said of the accusation. "He is totally and unequivocally incorrect in what he's saying that I excluded him. I had nothing to do with who would be on that call."

The Department of Energy and the FBI recently gave more credibility to the theory that a lab leak likely caused the virus, and other agencies are still investigating.

The theory that the virus stemmed from a lab leak has been speculated since the start of the pandemic. The theory was partly fueled by the fact that the virus was first identified near the Wuhan Institute of Virology. However, some scientists dismissed the lab leak explanation as a "conspiracy theory" in the early days of the pandemic.