COVID-19 and the gain of function debates: Improving biosafety measures requires a more precise definition of which experiments would raise safety concerns

doi:10.15252/embr.202153739

Comment

. 2021 Oct 5;22(10):e53739.

doi: 10.15252/embr.202153739. Epub 2021 Sep 3.

COVID-19 and the gain of function debates: Improving biosafety measures requires a more precise definition of which experiments would raise safety concerns

Kelsey Lane Warmbrod^{1

2}, Michael G Montague^{1

3}, Gigi Kwik Gronvall^{1

3}

Affiliations

¹ Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, Baltimore, MD, USA.
² University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.
³ Department of Environmental Health and Engineering, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA.

PMID: 34477287
PMCID: PMC8490979
DOI: 10.15252/embr.202153739

Comment

COVID-19 and the gain of function debates: Improving biosafety measures requires a more precise definition of which experiments would raise safety concerns

Kelsey Lane Warmbrod et al. EMBO Rep. 2021.

. 2021 Oct 5;22(10):e53739.

doi: 10.15252/embr.202153739. Epub 2021 Sep 3.

Authors

Kelsey Lane Warmbrod^{1

2}, Michael G Montague^{1

3}, Gigi Kwik Gronvall^{1

3}

Affiliations

¹ Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, Baltimore, MD, USA.
² University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.
³ Department of Environmental Health and Engineering, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA.

PMID: 34477287
PMCID: PMC8490979
DOI: 10.15252/embr.202153739

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has rekindled debates about gain-of-function experiments. This is an opportunity to clearly define safety risks and appropriate countermeasures.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Comment on

Experimental adaptation of an influenza H5 HA confers respiratory droplet transmission to a reassortant H5 HA/H1N1 virus in ferrets.
Imai M, Watanabe T, Hatta M, Das SC, Ozawa M, Shinya K, Zhong G, Hanson A, Katsura H, Watanabe S, Li C, Kawakami E, Yamada S, Kiso M, Suzuki Y, Maher EA, Neumann G, Kawaoka Y. Imai M, et al. Nature. 2012 May 2;486(7403):420-8. doi: 10.1038/nature10831. Nature. 2012. PMID: 22722205 Free PMC article.
Airborne transmission of influenza A/H5N1 virus between ferrets.
Herfst S, Schrauwen EJ, Linster M, Chutinimitkul S, de Wit E, Munster VJ, Sorrell EM, Bestebroer TM, Burke DF, Smith DJ, Rimmelzwaan GF, Osterhaus AD, Fouchier RA. Herfst S, et al. Science. 2012 Jun 22;336(6088):1534-41. doi: 10.1126/science.1213362. Science. 2012. PMID: 22723413 Free PMC article.

Cited by

Biosecurity in an age of open science.
Smith JA, Sandbrink JB. Smith JA, et al. PLoS Biol. 2022 Apr 14;20(4):e3001600. doi: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3001600. eCollection 2022 Apr. PLoS Biol. 2022. PMID: 35421093 Free PMC article.

References

1. Bostrom N (2011) Information hazards: a typology of potential harms from knowledge. Rev Contemp Philos 10: 44–79
1. Casagrande R, Basham C, Billings E, Cerles A, Finnegan M, Kazmierczak M, Lauer E, Meyer C, Ritterson R, Stephan Ret al (2015) Assessing the risks and benefits of conducting research on pathogens of pandemic potential. Takoma Park, MD: Gryphon Scientific;
1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2015) Highly pathogenic Asian avian influenza A(H5N1) in people (https://www.cdc.gov/flu/avianflu/h5n1‐people.htm)
1. Chambers CD (2013) Registered reports: a new publishing initiative at cortex. Cortex 49: 609–610 - PubMed
1. Chambers CD, Tzavella L (2020) The past, present, and future of registered reports. MetaArXiv 10.31222/osf.io/43298 [PREPRINT] - DOI - PubMed

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[1] Bostrom N (2011) Information hazards: a typology of potential harms from knowledge. Rev Contemp Philos 10: 44–79

[2] Bostrom N (2011) Information hazards: a typology of potential harms from knowledge. Rev Contemp Philos 10: 44–79

[3] Casagrande R, Basham C, Billings E, Cerles A, Finnegan M, Kazmierczak M, Lauer E, Meyer C, Ritterson R, Stephan Ret al (2015) Assessing the risks and benefits of conducting research on pathogens of pandemic potential. Takoma Park, MD: Gryphon Scientific;

[4] Casagrande R, Basham C, Billings E, Cerles A, Finnegan M, Kazmierczak M, Lauer E, Meyer C, Ritterson R, Stephan Ret al (2015) Assessing the risks and benefits of conducting research on pathogens of pandemic potential. Takoma Park, MD: Gryphon Scientific;

[5] Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2015) Highly pathogenic Asian avian influenza A(H5N1) in people (https://www.cdc.gov/flu/avianflu/h5n1‐people.htm)

[6] Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2015) Highly pathogenic Asian avian influenza A(H5N1) in people (https://www.cdc.gov/flu/avianflu/h5n1‐people.htm)

[7] Chambers CD (2013) Registered reports: a new publishing initiative at cortex. Cortex 49: 609–610 - PubMed

[8] Chambers CD (2013) Registered reports: a new publishing initiative at cortex. Cortex 49: 609–610 - PubMed

[9] Chambers CD, Tzavella L (2020) The past, present, and future of registered reports. MetaArXiv 10.31222/osf.io/43298 [PREPRINT] - DOI - PubMed

[10] Chambers CD, Tzavella L (2020) The past, present, and future of registered reports. MetaArXiv 10.31222/osf.io/43298 [PREPRINT] - DOI - PubMed

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COVID-19 and the gain of function debates: Improving biosafety measures requires a more precise definition of which experiments would raise safety concerns

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COVID-19 and the gain of function debates: Improving biosafety measures requires a more precise definition of which experiments would raise safety concerns

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