U.S. House Energy and Commerce (E&C) Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) joined two of her Republican committee colleagues in requesting further examination by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) of the risks and benefits associated with gain-of-function research, which involves pathogens with pandemic potential.
“As gain-of-function research could entail biosafety, biosecurity, and public health risks, the risks and benefits of this research must be evaluated to determine which types of studies should go forward and under what conditions,” the lawmakers wrote in an Aug. 1 letter sent to GAO Comptroller General Gene Dodaro. “Further, until we know the tangible outcomes of gain-of-function research, we cannot know if the benefits outweigh the risks.”
Joining Rep. McMorris Rodgers in sending the letter were U.S. Reps. Brett Guthrie (R-KY) and Morgan Griffith (R-VA) on behalf of House E&C Health and Oversight Subcommittee Republicans, who requested that GAO follow up its January report on high-risk research in which the office reported that U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ oversight of high-risk research “has serious gaps,” they wrote.
In their letter, the members also asked Dodaro to answer several questions, including what terms and definitions federal agencies use to refer to gain-of-function research, what gaps may exist among the different definitions, and what potential changes are under consideration for those definitions; what the benefits and risks are of different types of gain-of-function research; and what tangible outcomes, such as the development of medical countermeasures, have resulted from the different types of federally funded gain-of-function research, among others.
“The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the debate about the risks and benefits of a type of potentially high-risk research called gain-of-function research involving pathogens with pandemic potential,” wrote Rep. McMorris Rodgers and her colleagues. “However, this term is not well understood and is often misused.”
They noted that gain-of-function is a broad term that covers research that, among other things, involves genetically altering an organism, which may include increasing a pathogen’s ability to cause a pandemic.
The lawmakers’ letter builds on the E&C Committee’s investigative efforts on high-risk research, including gain-of-function research, according to Rep. McMorris Rodgers’ staff.