Reinstate the global moratorium on "gain-of-function" research

Reinstate the global moratorium on "gain-of-function" research

3,244 have signed. Let’s get to 5,000!
Started
Petition to
National Institutes of Health and

Why this petition matters

Started by Dan Sirotkin

Fifty years ago, artificially enhancing selection by intentionally infecting countless series of lab animals with different viruses is understood to have created the H1N1 Swine Flu.

Its Franken-genome has a mysterious untraceable genetic parentage and a "clear unnatural origin," and H1N1 became the poster-child for a moratorium against gain-of-function research - experimentation that seeks to increase a pathogen's virulence, creating a more effective double-edged sword to counter and learn from. In the case of H1N1, it wasn't a question of if it'd escaped from a research laboratory, only whether it'd been designed as part of a weapons system, or been part of a vaccine trial

Whether or not COVID-19 is eventually determined to have originate from gain-of-function research, this pandemic should be a stark reminder of the dangers it poses - we implore you to sign this petition calling for another moratorium on all virological gain-of-function research.

This is to prevent a pandemic caused by the accidental escape of an incredible virulent pathogen a research lab, if one isn’t presently ongoing, and to prevent biowarfare programs from being hidden behind the guise of sanctioned "gain-of-function" research. 

3,244 have signed. Let’s get to 5,000!