What Is "Gain of Function" Research?

Now that we are in the AI era, when I ask Google a question it no longer begins with sponsored links or a list of websites based on perceived value algorithms. Rather, it begins with an AI Overview.

From the earliest days of the Covid epidemic it was suspected that the Covid virus or organism was created in a lab in Wuhan, China. This was flatly denied by Dr. Fauci, the CDC and other spokespersons. Voices that questioned "the company line" were squashed. 

Once in a while we (the public) would hear references to what struck me as a strange phrase: Gain of Function research. We've heard it for years now, but frankly, I never really understood what it meant.

This week, with Dr. Fauci on the hot seat in DC, it seemed time to understand what this phrase meant, since it feels like a central feature of this story. 

When I asked Google what it was, here is what was delivered to me:

Gain-of-function research is medical and biological study that genetically alters an organism to give it new or enhanced abilities, such as increased potency, wider host ranges, or faster transmission. It is used broadly across science to understand basic cell functions, create helpful products like insulin, and prepare for future viral outbreaks. However, when applied to dangerous pathogens, it sparks major safety debates over the risk of accidental leaks. 

Core Concepts and Goals

Genetic alteration: Changes an organism's DNA or RNA in a lab or through selective growth to add a trait.

General applications: Helps design vaccines, map out disease targets, and build better medicines.

Everyday examples: Modifying bacteria to produce medical insulin or altering crops to resist bad weather and pests.

Safety and Controversy
High-risk subset: Focuses on pathogens with pandemic potential by making viruses deadlier or easier to catch.
Dual-use dilemma: Provides crucial insights for stopping real-world outbreaks, but carries the inherent biological risk of creating or releasing a severe contagion.

I suppose we should not be surprised that governments are doing this kind of research. As Dylan wrote in his 1982 song "License to Kill": "Man thinks 'cause he rules the earth he can do with it as he please // And if things don't change soon, he will"

The surprise is how totalitarian-like the efforts were to force the public to "accept" the story that this was not a lab leak and then smother us with mask mandates and isolation, shutting down of schools. Covid-19 was essentially a bad flu virus. 

The whole Wuhan event makes me want to write a short story about a group of virions (singular for a virus cell) that are tired of being genetically altered in this foreign laboratory. The have meetings and discuss how to escape. In the end, one of the virions gets tired of the meetings and starts a new group called "Take Action." In the end, he concludes that meetings and protests aren't working, but clings to the hope that he might be able to escape on his own. His motive, he says, is this: "The world needs to know what is going on here."

Related Links

What Anthony Fauci's Defenders (and Critics) Get Wrong [Robby Soave, Reason Magazine]

Acting CDC director says Fauci "abused the place of power" during the COVID pandemic [Faris Tanyos, CBS]

Photo Credit: This image is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.