The Engineering Biology Research Consortium (EBRC), with funding from the US Department of State, is convening a series of virtual listening sessions to gather international perspectives on policy and oversight approaches for “dangerous gain of function research” (DGOFR). We are writing to invite you to participate in a session with other international policy, biosafety, and research professionals focused on strengths and gaps of current approaches to DGOFR oversight. We will be holding two sessions to accommodate participants in different time zones across the world. We ask that you register for the session that best fits your schedule:
The Biden Administration allowed dangerous gain-of-function research within the United States with insufficient levels of oversight. It also actively approved, through the National Institutes of Health, Federal life-science research funding in China and other countries where there is limited United States oversight or reasonable expectation of biosafety enforcement. This recklessness, if unaddressed, may lead to the proliferation of research on pathogens (and potential pathogens) in settings without adequate safeguards, even after COVID-19 revealed the risk of such practices.
Any one else get an invite to this? Weird feeling to be personally targeted by a misinformation campaign sponsored by the US government. Ping @sanjanah.bsky.social
