COVID-19 and the gain of function debates: Improving biosafety measures requires a more precise definition of which experiments would raise safety concerns

Kelsey Lane Warmbrod; Michael G Montague; Gigi Kwik Gronvall

doi:10.15252/embr.202153739

COVID-19 and the gain of function debates: Improving biosafety measures requires a more precise definition of which experiments would raise safety concerns

EMBO Rep. 2021 Oct 5;22(10):e53739. doi: 10.15252/embr.202153739. Epub 2021 Sep 3.

Authors

Kelsey Lane Warmbrod^{1

2}, Michael G Montague^{1

3}, Gigi Kwik Gronvall^{1

3}

Affiliations

¹ Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, Baltimore, MD, USA.
² University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.
³ Department of Environmental Health and Engineering, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA.

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has rekindled debates about gain-of-function experiments. This is an opportunity to clearly define safety risks and appropriate countermeasures.

Publication types

Comment

MeSH terms

COVID-19*
Containment of Biohazards
Gain of Function Mutation
Humans
Pandemics
SARS-CoV-2