It is worth paying close attention to the new bill "Dangerous Viral Gain of Function Research Moratorium Act" introduced by Senator Roger Marshall. If enacted, it will effectively stop all of virological research, including for vaccines. www.marshall.senate.gov/wp-content/u... 🧵👇 - ThreadSky

kgandersen.bsky.social • 1 day ago

It is worth paying close attention to the new bill "Dangerous Viral Gain of Function Research Moratorium Act" introduced by Senator Roger Marshall.

If enacted, it will effectively stop all of virological research, including for vaccines.

https://www.marshall.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/AEG250942.pdf

🧵👇

Comments

stevielicks.bsky.social•1 day ago

Do you suppose this would affect AAV9 Gene therapy investigations?

kgandersen.bsky.social•1 day ago

That should be fine, since that is not on the Select Agents list.

stevielicks.bsky.social•1 day ago

Thank you. They really have us all tap dancing hey?

jessicataaffe.bsky.social•1 day ago

Ok obviously a minor pick at this besides its serious implications, but couldn’t they have some up with something other than “organism” to describe a whole host of agents that aren’t that?

decafgcrown.bsky.social•1 day ago

That would require too much of that liberal learning and thinking stuff lol

skullymitten.bsky.social•19 hours ago

📌

kalypso711.bsky.social•16 hours ago

Do they just want people to die? Is that the end game? I honestly don’t get it.

hardkandy.bsky.social•15 hours ago

From their behavior, I'm now pretty certain that they do (not a joke).

Mainly people who are not billinaires though

macmuiris.bsky.social•14 hours ago

Yes. It's eugenics. They believe that The Strong™ will survive a flu pandemic (they think of themselves as The Strong™) and that The Weak™ will die off.

It's just like Jesus said: The Strong™ shall inherit the Earth.

epp-97.bsky.social•11 hours ago

Yeah but buy their MAHA supplements first then you will live (not) 🙃

kajo503.bsky.social•17 hours ago

Roger Marshall, Doctor Death. His medical license should be revoked ASAP.

eleannakara.bsky.social•1 day ago

Thank you for the detailed explanation! Would this affect the usage of lentiviruses to overexpress genes in neuronal cultures?

kgandersen.bsky.social•1 day ago

If those genes are not from flu, CoVs, or select agents, then those experiments would not be covered.

eleannakara.bsky.social•1 day ago

Thank you!

merz.bsky.social•1 day ago

I wouldn't be so sure, given the vagueness of the language.

skylinewags.bsky.social•17 hours ago

📌

catanita.bsky.social•23 hours ago

This would impact phage research also I imagine?

atinygreencell.bsky.social•20 hours ago

That would be insane, I hope. Where would they draw the line? Plasmids carrying phage parts too? Transposons? At least make the bill state itself clearly ffs.

isabelott.bsky.social•19 hours ago

No - they’re more specific about this than they have been in previous efforts, I think because a lot of pushback against earlier efforts to this effect had to do with “viral vector gene therapy” etc.

isabelott.bsky.social•19 hours ago

They are striking at most types of critical molecular research, including strategies designed to be completely risk-free (pseudoviruses, minigenomes, chimeric backbone) into specifically flu/CoVs/anything on the BSAT list

isabelott.bsky.social•19 hours ago

and hoping that the people who came out in force against their effort that also hit viral vector/cancer therapies/etc sit this one out because they agree

vvsmider.bsky.social•20 hours ago

Phage display? Let’s call off all antibody discovery. Brilliant.

grant2c.bsky.social•17 hours ago

Jesus, take the needle. Our strength to become our weakness. Who would that benefit?!

totruth.bsky.social•7 hours ago

🥺😓😡Utter INSANITY!

ashkanara.bsky.social•17 hours ago

No!!!!!

fatpants.bsky.social•16 hours ago

WTF is going on over the pond?

macmuiris.bsky.social•14 hours ago

Suicide by stupidity.

Stupicide.

laureanne.bsky.social•17 hours ago

Cc
@amyklobuchar.com
@wyden.senate.gov @smith.senate.gov @markwarner.bsky.social
@aoc.bsky.social
@schatz.bsky.social
@joaquincastrotx.bsky.social
@senatorheinrich.bsky.social
@tedlieu.bsky.social
@booker.senate.gov
@repbonamici.bsky.social
@repjasmine.bsky.social
@kenmartin.bsky.social

annaliisavilppu.bsky.social•1 day ago

📌

lapoppy.bsky.social•15 hours ago

This is insane.

netofindra.bsky.social•15 hours ago

CC @ucsfhealth.bsky.social

residntevl.bsky.social•18 hours ago

The deepstate is in control

benecal.bsky.social•23 hours ago

📌

csweden.bsky.social•13 hours ago

Despicable- this is the result of uneducated ignorance being elected to government

celtickarla.bsky.social•20 hours ago

TTX is listed in part 73 of title 42. Lots of labs use TTX.

kgandersen.bsky.social•1 day ago

The first thing to understand is that the proposed bill targets *institutions*, not individual grants.

So if an institution is deemed to be performing "gain-of-function research" (very broadly defined, more on that), then that institution can't receive *any* grants, not just *GoF* grants.

kgandersen.bsky.social•1 day ago

So what constitutes "gain-of-function research"? According to the bill, work involving influenza viruses, coronaviruses, and "Select Agents" that may be "reasonably anticipated" (whatever that means) to "enhanced infectivity, pathogenicity, or transmissibility [+'threat']".

But, there's more.

benschulz.bsky.social•18 hours ago

Even maintenance of viruses in cell culture inherently selects for viruses better suited to that cell culture.

kgandersen.bsky.social•1 day ago

First off, such enhanced 'function' is not just based on human infectivity - it also includes animals.

Want to understand which mutations in H5N1 confer cattle vs bird vs human infectivity? Can't do that.

Want to understand how SARS-CoV-2 escapes immunity? Can't do that.

But there's more..

borisogon.bsky.social•1 day ago

I take it that would have an issue with the canarypox-vectored rabies vaccine for "companion animals" had it not already been developed.

borisogon.bsky.social•23 hours ago

(This is nonadjuvanted, relating to postvaccinal sarcomas.)

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3299519/

kgandersen.bsky.social•1 day ago

Okay, so those are live viruses found in the wild - can't touch those. But the bill also mentions "any synthetic construct of such virus, agent, or toxin."

It does not specify that these are full-length synthetic copies and/or replication competent. Just "any synthetic construct".

zachhensel.bsky.social•1 day ago

From what you’ve shown to this point, this covers a lot more than virology.

zachhensel.bsky.social•1 day ago

Of course, according to the recent executive order, it all depends on how the President feels on a given day how to interpret regulation.

kgandersen.bsky.social•1 day ago

So what about, say, the spike protein that we use as antigens in the COVID-19 vaccines? Yeah, can't do that. What about optimized forms of HA and NA in flu vaccines? Yeah, can't do that either.

Deep mutational scanning? Nope, can't do that.

Want to develop a pan-flu virus? Yeah, can't do that.

zachhensel.bsky.social•1 day ago

In RFK Jr’s worldview of C19 vaccine and other vaccine toxicity mechanisms, covering constructs of the “toxin” alone is a very broad ban.

secretoriginz.bsky.social•1 day ago

I read some of these things & I'm a smart enough guy but I think posts using simpler language for people without a background in these areas would reach/persuaded a wider audience.

merz.bsky.social•1 day ago

Ditto any research or clinical procedure that uses viral vectors. The entire nascent industry of gene therapy, gone for American scientists. Another field ceded to Asia and Europe.

kgandersen.bsky.social•1 day ago

If this bill is passed - and it very well might - that'll be the end of virological (and much other) research in the U.S., because institutions simply would not want to carry the risk - have one grant that might be flagged as GoF? There goes all federal funding to that research institution.

edrybicki.bsky.social•12 hours ago

Absolutely fucking ridiclous! Good job it doesn't affect us in other countries...no, wait; we USED to maybe get NIH/USAID money for that, but now? 😢

epidemiocracy.bsky.social•1 day ago

This is terrifying.

coweringfrog.bsky.social•12 hours ago

Imagine if someone explained to them in layman’s term a pseudo typed vector. They’d round us all up.

jewsky666.bsky.social•22 hours ago

I can’t figure out if they’re really just that fucking stupid or pure evil. My guess is both.

jennytheroselady.bsky.social•9 hours ago

And greedy.

chas0853.bsky.social•22 hours ago

Yes. Both. The ignorance is so profound and its negative impacts are so serious that it qualifies as evil.

Welcome to the emerging Dark Ages II.

bexzex.bsky.social•20 hours ago

Or is not exclusive

doctorbluebird.bsky.social•20 hours ago

It's look more and more like they want us to die. Can't believe I'm saying that.

lizs1.bsky.social•3 hours ago

He's an MD. FFS.

kilderry.bsky.social•23 hours ago

Roger is not smart enough to understand that bill

maxmutant.bsky.social•18 hours ago

This is insanity.

mathandstuff.bsky.social•1 day ago

We probably shouldn't have put the future of our biological research in the hands of Vladimir Putin.

This stuff goes well beyond "bad ideas". We're well into "full frontal assault on American science."

There is no good-faith explanation for what the Republicans are doing these days.

hardkandy.bsky.social•15 hours ago

Putin isn't that stupid. He only wants Americans to die

quiet-rainne.bsky.social•17 hours ago

cc @chrismurphyct.bsky.social @blumenthal.senate.gov

tiggerrd.bsky.social•18 hours ago

Paying attention. Encouraging the scientists, friends and family we know to contact their senators right now about this.

tiggerrd.bsky.social•18 hours ago

This can be used to make a call about the bill or write to them. I originally wrote to my senators through their congressional web pages so my heading/topic was the bill’s title.

Tip: the alt text from each photo can be copied and pasted to save you time if you are writing to your senators.

gemmaatkinson.bsky.social•8 hours ago

Does this also apply to research on viruses of bacteria?

sevoris.bsky.social•16 hours ago

📌

rmscedar.bsky.social•11 hours ago

Please put what bill number this is so we can call congress

leighkitsune.bsky.social•14 hours ago

📌

cyb3rcherrie.bsky.social•5 hours ago

@universityofkansas.bsky.social @kumedcenter.bsky.social look at what ur alumni is doing

edgigante.bsky.social•1 day ago

This is it people. This is why we have to be careful with our use of jargon. The masses are frightened. Wait until they learn about neomorphic mutations!

chamberhoo.bsky.social•10 hours ago

As a nurse, this makes me want to scream and/or curl up in a ball and weep.

ambernoel.bsky.social•15 hours ago

📌

mglovesfun.bsky.social•1 day ago

What is "gain of function research"?

Genuine question.

anygirl99.bsky.social•1 day ago

It’s when you try to understand what changes might make a virus e.g., jump hosts (prefer humans to chickens, say) or become more infectious. It’s how we can track changes in virus DNA that are worrisome. It can be dangerous but it’s highly controlled work.

They just don’t know how to science.

deborah-c.bsky.social•15 hours ago

(Alternative answer: it's whatever Christopher Rufo decides it means when there's a university he wants to shut down...)

langlois-ma.bsky.social•16 hours ago

This is a very important read ☝️

merrystarchild.bsky.social•16 hours ago

@libertyfairelander.bsky.social

ahoj.bsky.social•1 day ago

Is this just for Federally funded research?

What about private-for-profit?

joelbirch.bsky.social•18 hours ago

Get the billionaires dismantling everything onto it!

sketchette.bsky.social•16 hours ago

We do not have four years.

These assholes have only been at this for 5 weeks and we're at breaking point already.

ghholm.bsky.social•1 day ago

Includes monkeypox research too, among a host of others....

chillsaps.bsky.social•18 hours ago

@laurelbristow.bsky.social @unbiasedscipod.bsky.social @physiciandemocracy.medsky.social
@prhdocs.bsky.social more proposed legislation to be aware of

epp-97.bsky.social•11 hours ago

@luckytran.com
@epidemiologistkat.bsky.social
@rubinallergy.bsky.social

benfpiercephd.bsky.social•15 hours ago

Marshall tried this in 2021. Luckily there wasn't a vote then, but it will likely pick up political support given the current climate + majority this time around.

kgandersen.bsky.social•4 hours ago

Yup. I expect this'll get a lot more traction this time around - potentially even an executive order with similar language.

benfpiercephd.bsky.social•16 hours ago

📌

courageousgirl2.bsky.social•1 day ago

Monsters 👺

reddancer.bsky.social•8 hours ago

And that twit represents part of Kansas. It should be taken out and buggywhipped for its stupidity.

elonishorrible.bsky.social•1 day ago

A very Merry Christmas to the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

suffraga.bsky.social•16 hours ago

Now comes Polio!

liannehy.bsky.social•17 hours ago

How does this help the people of the state of Kansas?

comptonscatter.bsky.social•1 day ago

hi, hey, your posts are more readable and machine-scannable if you add alt text

I had to do a lot of guessing, squinting and scanning to figure out what your images were specifically showing :(

and a bunch I just skipped bc my eyes need another day

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