What, Exactly, is Gain of Function in Virus Research?

So create something that doesn’t exist in nature and see if you can kill it. Steven Quay, MD, PhD

Until well into the Covid pandemic most people had never heard of “gain of function” research in viruses. Now, it seems everyone has at least a vague understanding of the term. The public knows it has something to do with making a natural virus more dangerous to humans in some way and that this may have played a role in the origin of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid or, as I personally prefer to call it, the Wuhan virus, for its origin in Wuhan, China. Since that seems offensive to some people, I will use the politically acceptable Covid.

Gain of function involves several things. It may involve one, several, or all of these. These include the following:

  1. Creation of a virus that does not exist in nature.
  2. Taking an existing virus and modifying it in several ways:
  3. Make it more transmissible to  humans, especially if from an animal source.
  4. Make it more infectious, i.e. easier to spread.
  5. Make it more virulent, i.e. deadly.
  6. Make it able to evade detection by our immune system.
  7. Make it able to spread without prelimimary symptoms, i.e. asymptomatic spread.

No’s. 6 and 7, are regarded by many countries, including the US as impermissable. Oddly, the others are not. I have seen this mentioned with references in the past, but my search for these sources has been a failure. I cannot but wonder if they were not taken down.

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rtbosshardt

Dr. Bosshardt is a plastic surgeon with over three decades of practice. He is an avid reader and writer who contributed a weekly column on medical matters to the Orlando Sentinel for over tweny five years. His interests are wide ranging but have a common thread. That thread is an insatiable curiosity about people and the world around us. This includes the natural world, society and culture, and human potential, both good and bad. He is fascinated by our mind, body, and spiritual connection and what we are capable if we put our energy, mind, and will to any task. He is a lifelong runner who has completed multiple marathons and triathlons, culminating in completion of a full Ironman triathlon at age 61 and he is seguing into ultradistance running. His proudest accomplishment, however, is his family. He is married to the love of his life for 41 years and has three grown children, their spouses, and six grandchildren that he adores. His worldview is Christian and the Christian message of sin and redemption informs everything he is and does. If this blog informs and challenges readers, it will have been worth starting.

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