Trump’s Admin Ends Funding for Gain-of-Function Research
HHSTrump’s BansAdmin FederalEnds Funding for Gain-of-Function Research
The Spin
The Trump administration's ban on federal funding for dangerous gain-of-function research is long overdue — COVID showed exactly what happens when risky lab experiments go unchecked. The new policy establishes real accountability at every level, from researchers to institutions to funding agencies, replacing a system that was essentially grading its own homework. Taxpayer dollars should never bankroll experiments that could trigger the next pandemic.
Banning gain-of-function research without fixing the broken oversight system that enabled it misses the point entirely. Past risk assessments excluded known lab accidents, buried flawed methodology in appendices and handed pandemic-level policy decisions to scientific boards with no democratic accountability. Real reform means independent risk analysis, congressional oversight and transparent methodology — not just a funding ban that leaves the governance gaps wide open.
© 2026 Improve the News Foundation.
All rights reserved.
Version 7.4.1