US President Donald Trump has issued an executive order suspending all federal funding for a type of virology research that his administration considers dangerous. But some scientists say the order is so broad that low-risk research will also be affected. The funding suspension will be in place for the next four months, in which time the government says it will revise an incoming policy on how federal funding agencies and institutions oversee 'gain of function' experiments on pathogens that have the potential to spark a pandemic. That policy, which was years in the making and set to broaden oversight of such experiments, was due to come into effect this week. The executive order, signed on 5 May, defines dangerous gain-of-function research as studies on infectious pathogens or toxins that have the potential to make them more deadly or transmissible. That includes work that gives pathogens the ability to evade vaccines, therapeutic agents and detection attempts, among other things....
learn more
