On May 5, 2025, President Donald Trump signed the Executive Order on Improving the Safety and Security of Biological Research, marking a pivotal shift in U.S. biosecurity policy. This directive halts federal funding for "dangerous gain-of-function" (GoF) research, particularly in countries like China and Iran, where oversight is deemed insufficient. The move responds to concerns that such research—enhancing pathogens' transmissibility or virulence—could lead to lab accidents with catastrophic consequences, as speculated in the origins of COVID-19.
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