House Republicans Pushing To Crack Down On “Gain-Of-Function” Research By NIH

STAT (6/11, Owermohle, Subscription Publication) reports Republicans on the House Energy and Commerce Committee “are pushing to crack down on certain viral pathogen research with a new oversight panel.” Republican “staff of the House Energy and Commerce Committee recommended in a report Tuesday that the federal government ‘remove final review and approval’ for so-called gain-of-function research from the National Institutes of Health and its infectious disease arm.” The authority over these types of studies “would go to a ‘wholly independent’ entity that would publish reports of its decisions.” This “oversight board should be ‘free of conflicts of interest’ and ‘Congress could consider whether Senate confirmation of leadership or members is desirable,’ the report stated.”