Re-creating known pathogenic viruses and making existing bacteria more dangerous are among the top threats.
Researchers are relieved to resume experiments, but some public health questions remain.
In a sample from a patient who died, researchers saw signs that the H7N9 virus had started to mutate to a form resistant to Tamiflu.
In the latest gain-of-function (GOF) study, South Korean researchers have substituted genes from H5N1 avian influenza onto an H5N8 avian flu virus and found that it caused greater pathogenicity and up to a 1,000-fold greater virulence in mice.
Though the technology isn't likely within reach of do-it-yourselfers, it could already be in use by rogue governments, experts say.
In a gain-of-function (GOF) experiment, Belgian researchers showed that serial passaging of H9N2 avian flu viruses in pigs enhanced the virus's replication and transmissibility, the scientists reported yesterday in PLoS One.
President-elect Donald Trump has named Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., an outspoken critic of vaccines, chair of a panel on vaccine safety and scientific integrity, according to the Washington Post today. Trump met with Kennedy at Trump Towers in New York today.
The group voted unanimously on policy regarding avian flu and other viruses.
Ahead of its upcoming meeting, the National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity (NSABB) has posted a draft of a working group's recommendations to guide federal officials in evaluating proposed gain-of-function (GOF) studies on H5N1 flu and other dangerous pathogens, and an outside company tasked with crafting a risk-benefit analysis of GOF research has posted its final report.
Experts offer approaches for moving the GOF conundrum forward that are not mutually exclusive, such as lifting the moratorium, seeking international consensus, and establishing a review board.